A New Master
by Silver559
Summary: Saito, after dying in a battle against an army of seventy thousand, is revived by Tiffania, but he cannot recall any of his past memories & lost his contract with Louise. Louise is asked to summon a new familiar after mourning for Saito, but as Saito recovers he begins questioning why he ever loved Louise, and Louise summons a different familiar to serve her.
1. Chapter 1

**I decided to write this because I, like a good potion of people, think Louise in The Familiar of Zero isn't a good love interest. All she does is whip Saito when things aren't his fault, doesn't listen, and turns on him. The only time they seem to agree with loving each other are very convenient situations. So because of this ticking me off I went scrolling through my mind of all the good other love interests for Saito. I thought Tiffania was the best, she's nice, cute, shy, not a person to try to attract someone through sexual means despite her best efforts, (Looking at you Siesta and Kirche.) and she doesn't have too many responsibilities weighing on her now or later (Looking at you Henrietta & Tabitha). So now let's get formal things out of the way. YES I have watched the entire series all four seasons & I do not own anything canon in this fanfiction. If you want to bitch about my choices, then read a different one if you don't like this. Enjoy.**

Saito couldn't move and here they were preparing to launch a final strike on him. Even the mighty Gandalfr couldn't take on an army of seven thousand. All he tried...all he lived for until now...all his work, but she lived and he didn't want to die.

"I'm glad to have met you Louise..." he said to himself. He just wanted right then and there for Derflinger to say that he could do it, he wouldn't die, but the sword stayed silent...and for once Saito thought the sword agreed with him on this subject.

The canons boomed and cackled, magic beams shot out of wands, and a rain of arrows all came for him. All had the goal of wiping one thing off the face of this world...and it was a lie to say he wasn't scared. All he did before he was hit was shout, "Louise!"

* * *

Louise looked at the flower as Julio just told her that it tells you how the target person is doing, but something was wrong. It was dying. First it glowed brighter for a second, but then all of its sparkle was lost, then the glow was gone, and then it began wilting and shriveled into dust.

"No, no, no, NOOOO!" Louise shouted as she threw the bottle off the airship. "You stupid lying flower! He can't die! He can't! Saito you idiot! You don't die...and leave me all alone..." she sobbed as her rage quickly turned into sadness and into depression as she realized that he wanted HER to live. All this was for her.

After she tried to go back they had reminded her why he did it and told her that his sacrifice shouldn't go to waste. It was enough to keep her holding on to her life, but why him? Why him! The stupid dog...the dumb dog! She then began doing what any other depressed person would do. Looking at everything she did wrong.

People offered her gifts, advice, help, and compassion. She accepted them, but they didn't change her much. She was just thankful now that she was being given time to mourn over her familiar, and now the most expected person to see came in.

"Louise..." Cattelya said as she sat down on the bed. "I want to tell you something...it's alright to miss your familiar. You aren't the only one. Many people love their familiars and grow fond to them only to lose them. We're here for you no matter what though. When the time comes we'll find you a new familiar to help you fill the gap that Saito left. I know we can never fully fill it, but some is enough right?"

Louise had tears down her eyes and all she did was hug her sister tightly. Cattelya smiled and was about to leave when Louise finally spoke for the first time in days.

"I loved him more than anything in the world...why does love hurt so much when it is taken from you? Does...does Eleonore love me? Did she love her fiance?" Louise asked as she balled herself up more and more.

"I'm sure she does, but I want you to find out for yourself," Cattelya said as she shut the door behind her to leave Louise alone again.

* * *

Tiffania hummed quietly as she strolled through the forest. She held a basket of various items with her which included fruit, nuts, leaves, berries, and other items anyone living out here would like to have. It was a quiet life and that's all she was doing under her mother's wishes. It was all she needed too. She had a comfy house, no neighbors, no noisy problems other than the occasional wild animal chases, and birds during mating season.

She was collecting some roots when she heard something pat the leaves above. It happened a for a few more pits and pats when something wet landed on her nose. As it did she made a little surprised noise. Of course it was raining, but it wasn't only raining. She found that out when a flash of light came and not even a second later a boom emerged and shook her ears. Tiffania covered them and cringed. She hated lightning so much, but none happened for a while longer. Just what was going on? Usually when lightning struck more followed.

Tiffania didn't question it and began calmly walking back to her cottage. A little rain never bothered her, but thunder and lightning always did for some odd reason. She knew why to some extent, but she never could find the definite answer. Much like how humans would flee at the sight of the smallest spider sometimes.

Tiffania was closer to her little home when noticed a bright light in the woods and a boom. It wasn't lightning and as it happened she felt compelled to know what it was, so she began walking. Once she was near it she saw a person.

Tiffania quickly hid behind a nearby tree, but nothing happened for a long time. She pulled the hood of her cloak up and peaked around carefully. It was a boy not too far from her age. He had black and messy hair, strange shoes she had never seen before that had intricate designs and an odd shirt with a device she had never seen before going down the middle of it. He was in bad shape too. His clothes were in tatters and leaked blood as if he was just in a battle.

Tiffania gulped and carefully walked over to the boy and knelt down near him. At his side was a sword, but that didn't matter now, he needed help, so Tiffania removed her hood then placed a hand on his chest along with her ear. She listened carefully, but nothing. No breathing, no heartbeat. He was dead! What had caused him to go into such a terrible state?

She examined his body more and noticed on his left hand the mark of the Gandalfr. This...this couldn't be. He was the left hand of god! Who was this boy and how did he get here? She thought how she could save him. He hadn't been dead for long after all.

Tiffania thought and thought, but nothing came to mind except, "Mother's ring!" she said as she looked at the metal ring with a stone on top of it. It was a gift from her late mother, but that didn't matter now. Her mother always said to help those in need no matter who they were. This applied to the boy too, right?

"Mother...please guide me," she said as she concentrated her energy on the ring until the stone glowed and once she had access she focused on her desire to help the boy. That was when the stone flew from its resting spot and into the young man. A few minutes afterwords he started coughing.

Tiffania smiled and looked at the boy as his eyes slowly began to open. As they did she smiled and said, "Rise Gandalfr, Left Hand of God." But this went to dust quick as he went unconscious once more. Now his previously dormant wounds were beginning to bleed again. They hadn't healed, she may have brought him back, but he still needed to be healed!

Tiffania wasted no time and wrapped crude leaf bandages around the most serious ones. The leaves had special healing properties, but as she picked him up she remembered his sword. Once she had him and his belongings she began running back to her home.

Once she was inside she quickly placed him on her bed and removed the makeshift bandages. Once that was finished she took some hot water from the spit above the fireplace with a cloth. She quickly cleaned the wound and then put the leaves back on to help fight off infection. After that she grabbed some actual bandages she had never really used and began wrapping them around the wounds with the leaves. Once that was done she quickly put the leaves on the next tier of wounds and wrapped them. Once this was done she began using a bucket of cold water and a cloth to cool down his body temperature if he should get a fever.

Tiffania sighed knowing she could rest easy once she heard the steady breathing and thumping of his heart. It was with this time that she began making a rather large meal in case he woke up as well as starting an elixir to help him heal a little faster. Once it was done she walked over to her little dining area that had a small ground level table with two log chairs on one side and a bench on another. Then, facing away from the fireplace was a bench with a table.

The fire gave off good light and allowed Tiffania to see the boy. He looked kind of cute when he was sleeping and not dead. She was glad to have saved him, but how long would his recovery take? She hoped he would wake up within a week. It would be bad if he was in a coma.

When she went back to her elixir and was about to add another ingredient when she realized something. She had left her gatherings in the rain…but that would have to wait until the boy was stable. She just hoped no wild animals ate it.

"And darn… I was looking forward to a nice cup of my favorite tea..."

* * *

Saito slowly opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was that he was sweating and hot. Where was he? He looked around and noticed it was day, but he was in a small cottage which was basically one room.

Where was? He and whose home was this? As he looked around he wondered who built this. Everything was either stones or wood, but mostly wood. He tried to sit up, but pain shot through him and he looked at his bandaged body. So he was being taken care of then, but by who? He needed to thank them because by the looks of these bandages the wounds were nasty things.

Saito lied down waiting for the person to come home. As he did he continued to admire the simple, yet cozy style of the cottage. He did't know why, but he liked this place despite how remote it seemed. Some of the wood was uneven and he wondered how whoever lived here kept the rain out.

Just then he heard the door open as light footsteps carefully trotted into the house and a cloaked figure walked in with a bag of plants, fruit, nuts, and berries. They set them down by the fireplace. Their cloak seemed to be made of leaves and it looked quite nice as if it belonged to nature and made whoever it was on look a part of it as well.

"Excuse me," Saito said startling the poor person. From what he could tell of the surprised yelp it was a woman. She turned around to reveal her face and by god was she a sight to behold. She had golden hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and her face looked almost perfect in any way. "Where am I?"

"Oh! You're awake! I thought you'd be out for longer," she said as she ran to him completely forgetting her basket. "But I'm glad you're alright. It has been three days since I helped you and you haven't stirred once," she said in an innocent and kind voice. She also smiled when she noticed he was doing well, but still who was she did he know her from somewhere?

"Um, thanks, but where are we?" Saito asked as he looked around curiously. He wanted to know where he was and how he got here.

"We're in a forest near Westwood village if you must know," the girl said as she held something in her hand. Saito tried to get a closer look...it looked like bread…

"Gah!" Saito said as he clutched his wounds in pain. The girl saw this and gently pushed Saito back down and held her hand there for a few seconds.

"Please just try to rest," she said softly once she removed her hand. Saito smiled a thanks and the girl looked away in embarrassment.

"Here..." she said as she handed him a piece of bread. "You must be hungry, right?"

Saito happily took the piece of bread and began happily munching on it. It was really good too! Did she make it herself? That was when the thought of her name crossed his mind and when he could move again. He thought he would ask how much longer until he could move because he wanted to repay her as soon as possible.

"Um..." Saito began trying to find the words. The girl noticed this and turned around to listen carefully. "When do you think I'll be able to move again?"

"Well I don't know. That depends on how long your body heals to walking point, but then it may not be wise to walk with all the other wounds. So I'd say a week or two, then that's not counting traveling and fighting condition, so the total time until you could leave could be anywhere from three weeks to a month."

"Thank you. You've been very kind to me. Say, what's your name?" Saito asked smiling. He really wanted to thank her properly as well as address her by her name.

"My name is Tiffania Westwood thank you for asking, but what is your name?" she asked before turning back to her cooking.

"My name..." Saito said as he scratched his head. What was his name? "I-I don't remember. In fact I don't remember anything before coming here!"

"Oh, great going partner!" Derflinger said popping out of his sheathe. "You lost your memory, now how will this poor girl address you correctly?"

"Whoa, a talking sword!" both people in the room said in unison.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...no big surprise there for me, but you there, boy, you are called Saito Hiraga, and I am your trusty blade Derflinger, but I just call you partner," Derflinger said before retreating back into his sheathe.

"Saito...what a strange name..." Tiffania said as she cocked her head ever so slightly, but then the face of confusion quickly turned to one of a smile as she said, "Nice to meet you Mr. Saito."

Saito just rubbed the back of his head nervously for some reason. He didn't know why but he was also laughing nervously too.

 _"_ _I don't think the missy will be happy about this...plus that girl is..._ " Derflinger thought as he watched them from his sheathe. _"She seems a lot nicer than the_ _Missy_ _and look at her_ _. Lucky man_ _that he doesn't remember his old master, but why does he still have_ _some of_ _Gandalfr's power? His contract ended._ _"_

* * *

"Louise," someone said through the door, but in between her thoughts Louise didn't bother identifying who it was. "Louise may I come in?"

"Yes," she groaned then placed her head back on her desk. When the door shut she didn't bother look up as a purple cape was caught in her peripheral vision. It was the Queen herself, oh what an honor.

"Louise, I heard about Saito..." Henrietta said as she looked at her hands while sitting next to Louise. "He was a good friend wasn't he."

Louise nodded as she was on the verge of tears. She didn't know where she found the strength or the dignity to say it, but she said, "My greatest regret is...I never apologized to him for being awful. Why...why do I have to live with those regrets now because I am too proud to apologize."

Henrietta looked down and said, "Those who die without warning or suddenly...that's when we realize what we wish we should've said to them. Louise...I know you may not like to hear this, but when you're ready you will be given the chance to summon a new familiar. It's not much, but I'm sorry to say I don't think Saito will come back."

Louise agreed for once. Perhaps a new familiar may be what she needed. If Cattelya was right perhaps it could fill the hole, but maybe she wasn't ready yet. She was still mourning for Saito. All she needed was a little more time and then she would summon her new familiar.

 **I think I did a good job! Now for anyone who thinks this chapter is short It's six pages on a doc writer and probably more on the size of a fairly small story book in terms of width and length. So this should be an entire chapter by logic plus the page size in Fanfiction is MUCH wider. This took me a lot of time to write and look over, so please respect its size. Anyhow, this will continue in the future, BUT if you want to I would like a person to read the chapters beforehand (Like an editor) and give me suggestions on how to fix it, and to any of my actual Followers who follow me for my other long project, Chapter 5 of The Shattered Mirror will be coming out SOON. I usually write best at night, but I have Drivers Ed. at night now...but I will say it will be coming out soon. I have half of it done. AND FOR ANYONE WHO READS AUTHOR NOTES, if you review PLEASE STATE SOMETHING GOOD ABOUT THE CHAPTER NOT JUST "GOOD CHAPTER" & questions are more likely answered if you PM them to me (For anyone who doesn't know PM, means Private Message here). Now I have another chapter to finish, good bye I swear I will return to this before August.**


	2. Chapter 2

He was tiring, so why did he keep fighting? Why was he fighting on such a large army? Saito didn't know, but something was pushing him, it was telling him he needed to fight, but as he looked at all the enemies left for him to fight, he thought about retreating because just looking at the vast numbers made him want to stop.

"Partner, don't give up! Keep fighting, you know you have to!" Derflinger said as Saito used him to rest before the oncoming enemy came. "You don't need to die here, keep fighting! Push yourself, you know you can!"

Saito clenched his teeth, increased in sweating, and the blood of his injuries gushed even more and some opened back up, but he kept rising to fight, but for what? What was he doing, what purpose was driving him to snuff out the life of hundreds of men? Before he knew it the next wave came and they started with the infantry who charged in with spears aiming to crunch on his heart as if they were teeth.

As Saito readied himself all he knew he was fighting for was his life now and as he fought he noticed the artillery and archers closing him in a circle, he needed to get past the infantry, but they just kept coming and coming and as he chopped down the last soldier he gave out. Then he he chuckled as he realized what they planned. Then the fling of bows, the booming of canons, and the zapping of spells could be heard as they all came rushing for him and as they did he knew he was going to die. The last thing heard was...

###################

"Wake up!" he heard Tiffania shout. She sounded distressed or worried, but why was she like that? When he began regaining his senses Saito noticed that he was being shaken. Quite hard actually that's when he felt pain jab through his stomach.

"Ow! Enough, I'm awake already!" he shouted as he clutched his stomach in pain. "What was that for anyhow?" he asked as he sat up then noticed how his entire body was hot and sweaty.

"Oh, thank goodness..." Tiffania said as she sighed in relief. "You were breathing very hard and sweating. You seemed to be having a very bad dream...and you kept saying Louise." she said while trailing off. "Anyhow good morning!" She said as her frown and worried face turned to a jovial one with a shining smile.

This was all it took to make Saito smile and he responded, "Good morning to you as well, Tiffania."

"Hard to believe you can walk now..." Derflinger said as Saito slowly got out of the bed and began walking towards the kitchen. "All on your own without that stick too. You really recovered fast."

"Yeah..." Saito said as he looked at Tiffania who had probably just came back from scavenging since she wore that cloak whenever she came back from it, but aside from that she was a very nice person. She gave him a little more during meals, helped him get in bed when he needed to lie down, and she didn't ask for anything in return for her time and effort to help him recover, he felt bad about it and wanted to repay her, but he also found it strange that she asked for nothing in return for some reason, it was also funny to think that she lived out here all alone. She was such a great young girl. Why did she live all alone out here?

"Hey, Mr. Saito are you still awake?" she said putting her face inches away from his and waving her hand in his face.

"Y-Yeah...Saito said while coming out of thought. As he did he noticed a fresh meal consisting of bread, berries, and other fruit with a hot cup of tea sitting at the table. It smelled as good as it looked and he was ready to dig in.

"Good, because breakfast is ready. You still need to eat up to regain your strength so you can go home," she said walking to the table and sitting down to eat. She curiously watched Saito as he sat down and looked at the food then at her as if waiting for approval.

She nodded and his face lit up as he immediately started eating them with poor table manners, but she didn't mind and just kept smiling. She even giggled as she watched him struggle with the fresh bread only to have the inside burn his tongue. He had been here for five days and she really enjoyed his company, and now that he seemed to be able to walk on his own just fine she hoped he would be in traveling condition within the next week.

"Say, Tiffania?" Saito asked with a mouthful of bread. Tiffania was taken out of her train of thoughts and looked at Saito nodding a yes. "Do you live here all alone?"

Tiffania didn't want to drag him into it and looked sadly at the ground and nodded slowly. Ever since her mother died, she had been here all alone, and she didn't enjoy remembering her death because she told Tiffania to look to the future and not the past.

Saito noticed how sad the poor girl looked. Feeling sorry that he brought a sensitive subject up he said, "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up, but please if you don't wish to talk, just say so."

Tiffania shook her head and said, "No, it's quite alright. There was no way you could've known, but I don't want to worry you with such things, so please if you wish to ask something, what is it?"

"Well..." Saito began asking a mountain of questions and tried to avoid anything that could possibly offend her. This was the talk of the two throughout breakfast until Tiffania noticed how Saito's face seemed to be getting redder and redder.

"Um...Mr. Saito...are you feeling ok? You're face seems red," Tiffania said standing up once she finished her last berry. Onc she stood up she began walking towards him and looked at his face.

"Is it?" Saito asked curiously and once he did that she put the back of her hand on his forehead and it didn't take long for her to know what was happening.

"This is just great...I knew there was something up with that dream," she said and walked back to the fire and spit. "It was the first of the symptoms for an infection."

"That doesn't sound good at all," Saito said as he watched her out some leaves in the spit which had water on it at the moment. Then she grabbed a nearby bucket of water and a piece of cloth.

"Sit down, Saito," she said as she walked over to him with these items. "And take off that heavy shirt."

"Alright," he said sitting down and unzipping his sweatshirt. As soon as he did this he noticed a halt in Tiffania's movements as she curiously watched him simply unzip his sweater.

"So that's what that does..." she said to herself before dipping the cloth in the water and placing it on his forehead. Then she began removing his second shirt without warning.

"W-What are you doing?" Saito asked as she grabbed the bottom of his shirt. Now he was even warmer from blushing with embarrassment along with a fully red face, so he was glad she wouldn't notice.

"I need to check your bandages," she said pulling it off the rest of the way, and after she did this, Tiffania began unwrapping the bandages around his torso where the largest wound were and noticed how the leaves on his torso began to wilt and decay. "I guess that explains it. How Ironic though..."

"What?"

"Well you see, I put these leaves here to help fight off infection, but now it seems that they died completely. I am so foolish...I should've replaced these three days ago. I'm very sorry Mr. Saito," Tiffania explained as she removed each leaf one by one then wrapped a new bandage around him.

"No, not at all Tiffania," Saito said as his shirt was pulled back on. "In fact, thank you for being so considerate of my health this whole time to a complete stranger like me."

"Your words to me great honor Mr. Saito, but you aren't a stranger to me anymore. I'm happy to help," Tiffania said smiling as she replaced the cloth on his head. She put her head down a little bit because she believed she was blushing.

"Not at all," Saito said as he continued to sit down and wait for Tiffania finish whatever she was making. As she was Saito started to feel warmer. Before long he was sweating a little. What was Tiffania making over there anyhow? It looked like tea, but for what?

Saito noticed how his wash cloth was already getting warm, so he wrung the water back into the bucket and dipped it in to get some of the cooler water. Once he did that he placed it on his forehead and started feeling a little more comfortable, so he relaxed until Tiffania brought him a cup of tea.

"What's this?" Saito asked as he looked at the steaming cup. Inside it was green, a lot greener than he'd seen tea before anyhow.

"This should help you with your illness, so please drink it all," Tiffania said giving her smile again before walking off to go outside for morning chores.

Saito took one sip and frowned. It tasted very bitter, but if it would help him with his illness he would. As Saito continued drinking he suddenly remembered something. This wasn't his world! He was somewhere else.

#################

"Lord Vallière, I don't recommend pushing it," Colbert said as Louise's father and her most stubborn sister argued with them about summoning a new familiar. "We still need to give her time to mourn, that's how it works."

"And why is that? You never really gave an explanation," Eléonore said with her arms crossed and glasses giving off a bright glare as always. "I demand an explanation!"

"Eléonore please," Lord Vallière said stopping his daughter and any conflict with the teacher who was in charge of the summons. "Osmond or Colbert, can either one of you give us a hint as to why you cannot summon a familiar before the mourning period is over? It's been a week, and we're impatient, or Eléonore is..."

Eléonore huffed at this and turned her head towards the others in front of her and waited for one of them to talk, but they just looked at each other for a while before Osmond nodded and opened his mouth to speak.

"If a master tries to summon the same familiar twice, something can go horribly wrong at times, especially if they're still in mourning. Our best guess is the magic spell tries to summon both at the same time, and that can either merge the two into an abomination, or on some cases, the master can get sucked into the gate and into a rift where the path splits in two. It will take longer for Louise to mourn Saito since she loved him as well, not as a familiar, and definitely more than a friend, so please understand our plight. That is all we have to say, now Lord Vallière, Lady Eléonore, I must discuss some things with Mr. Colbert, so if you will..." Osmond explained then he raised his staff and the door at the end of the room opened and before the two left they looked at each other with the same thoughts on their head.

"Nobles...they're all the same," Osmond said as he wondered how much longer they would stay. "So many of them are proud, arrogant, and power hungry or abusing. If they can, any form of pleasure will be all they seek."

"Sir, I think they understand their daughter's position to some degree, in fact I think you're right about pride here. I believe they might want to make their daughter feel better faster, but some of them are too proud to admit it," Colbert said before walking out. As he reached for the door knob he was halted by Osmond who wished to speak to him.

"If they ask you to summon her familiar before it has been two weeks, please, say no. I think she needs three weeks to a month to mourn. Louise loved Saito, and I think some people know from experience how long it takes for one person to mourn over their lover," Osmond said before dismissing Colbert.

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Saito yawned as he listened to Derflinger monologue about his past, but he caught a few thing only since he was bored with the monologue about the monologues he used to do about his world. SO the few things he caught about this world was an academy of magic for nobles, and getting whipped all night by someone quite often by his master.

Another week had gone by and Saito was over his illness, but now he was waiting for Tiffania to come back and it was raining. This morning when Saito woke up he wasn't sick anymore, but the cloth was still left on his head, and it was raining and poor Tiffania was in it.

Saito also remembered he wasn't in travel condition just yet, so he had to stay a little longer. There were some wounds that could still open up, still prone to infection, and overworking some joints would be bad for his condition, but right now as Saito watched the fire and listened to the pitter patter of the rain the more he worried about the girl that saved his life.

"When do you think Tiffania will come back?" Saito asked Derflinger once he reached on of his limits of boredom.

"Who knows, maybe you should look for her? She's taking an awfully long time," Derflinger said popping out of his sheathe.

"What do you mean?" Saito asked as he got up and grabbed Derflinger with him.

"You were asleep all day, right? Now when you were in stable condition, which was fairly early this morning, she went out then not too much time later it started pouring. She hasn't been back since and it's the middle of the afternoon," Derflinger said once more, and that's all it took for Saito to charge out the door in the rain and start calling her name.

"Tiffania!" Saito shouted in all the directions from the door. Derflinger was right too. It was pouring horribly and it made Saito worry that Tiffania was out in it all alone. Saito ran in a random direction and called her name again.

"Partner! Mark your path! She may be lost, not in trouble," Derflinger yelled before Saito wandered too far away from the cottage. Saito agreed and as he passed a tree he left a mark on each tree to signify he had passed it since the heavy rain might destroy a path marked on the ground.

Saito called Tiffania's name every few minutes before he finally heard a response from someone and, without hesitation, Saito ran towards the voice and called again.

"S-Saito..?" he heard Tiffania ask. Saito looked over to the voice and noticed her wearing her hat and her one pieced green dress. She was not dressed for the rain even the slightest bit. Poor Tiffania was shivering horribly and she was soaking wet.

"Tiffania! What are you doing out here dressed like that? You're sure to catch a cold!" Saito said hugging her and giving her his sweatshirt to help keep warm. She couldn't get it to the zipper though because of her incredibly large…

"I'm sorry Mr. Saito...I didn't know such bad weather would start so soon. I lost my way and...thank you. Thank you so much for coming to find a stranger like me," Tiffania sobbed. "I didn't know where to go...thank you so much."

"Don't mention it," Saito said as he helped her walk back to the cottage thanks to the marked trees. "I'm just glad I found you in time."

Tiffania felt her heart flutter for just a moment then continued to walk back to the cottage with her head resting on Saito's shoulder trusting him. It had been so long since she had company or someone to call a friend, and now she had it.

"Hey, Partner," Derflinger said popping out of his sheathe once more. "I noticed how you spaced out when I was trying to explain your past so far, we have time, so would you listen now?"

Saito nodded and began actually listening to the sword talk, and thank goodness he wasn't going into too much detail this time, and with each story Saito began to recover his memory until he remembered everything. He remembered Louise, Siesta, Kirche, Tabitha, and everyone else. By the end they had made it back to the cottage.

Once they were inside, Saito set her down by the fire and wrapped a blanket around her. After that was done he heated some water on the spit and grabbed some berries from where she stored them and gave some to her. Then he noticed how her hat was still dripping wet and grabbed it. It was cold, but that's all he got before she protectively put her hands on the hat and pulled it down more.

"Tiffania, what's wrong?" Saito asked as she closed her eyes tightly and shook her hands from holding the hat so tight. "Is something wrong with your head?"

Tiffania only nodded in response.

"Can you show me?"

Tiffania shook her head.

"Are you embarrassed about it?"

She just shook her head.

"Oh good grief girl!" Derflinger said popping out of his sheathe. "He doesn't know anything about your kind! No one ever told him either."

Tiffania looked at Saito and asked, "If I remove my hat, will you promise not to tell anyone, or judge me? It's something I need to keep secret."

"Give me one good reason why I should judge you. You saved my life after all," Saito said smiling. "Besides that hat is as cold as the rain still, so I want you to take it off so you don't worsen."

Tiffania smiled then readied herself to take her hat off in front of someone for the very first time. She gulped inwardly then took it off to reveal her large ears. Te ears given to her by her mother. What her mother told her to keep a secret from everyone she met.

"Whoa! Those are some ears. Are you a fairy or something?" Saito asked as he stared at them.

"Um...well..." Tiffania said laughing slightly. "I'm not a fairy, but I'm an elf."

"To be honest, I don't really care. I don't know anything about elves honestly," Saito said laughing as he wrapped a blanket around himself as well since he felt cold too. "I don't care what you are, you saved my life, and you're a friend."

"Hey! Mr. Saito, your left hand!" Tiffania said pointing to the mark of Gundolf. Saito looked at the runes and noticed that they were fading. He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't too worried for some reason. In fact, from what Derflinger told him he was kind of happy to have it gone because now that he looked at it, he wasn't Louise's familiar anymore. He wondered why he even fell for her in the first place…

"It's fine...I didn't like my old master anyways," Saito said once the marks were completely gone and as he remembered how Louise whipped him for the littlest things, and she even had a spiked whip now which scared him. "But anyhow, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine thanks to you," Tiffania said blushing a little. "And thank you for everything. I have been very lonely until you came, I'm really glad I met you."

"Me too," Saito said looking at Tiffania and smiling. She smiled as well and for a moment they began leaning closer and closer until their lips locked, but after a few seconds and they were done, Saito began feeling his body getting hot. "This again?" he asked.

"Saito? What's wrong Saito!" Tiffania said as his body began steaming and the mark of Gundolf reappeared on his hand. Once this happened he passed out, but Tiffania was more worried about what just happened? Did she give him the mark back? What was going on!

"Just as I thought!" Derflinger said popping out of his sheathe to speak with Tiffania. "You're a Void Mage! I could feel it on you."

"What…?" Tiffania asked as her ears drooped and she stared at Saito's now snoring and no longer cold body, but she was still cold and now she was tired. Perhaps…

####################

Saito woke up in a bed again and tried to recall what had happened. Last night he was looking for Tiffania, he found her in the rain shivering, his runes faded, they kissed...and then his body burned up, so did that mean he was a Gandalfr again?

Saito looked at his left hand and sighed. It was the mark Louise gave him, but is it that when he kissed Tiffania he got it back? Saito turned over and then noticed that someone else was in the bed. Right there on one side was a sleeping Tiffania.

"What?! Tiffania?!" Saito said sitting up immediately. He didn't remember this happening. When he made these sudden moves though she began to stir. Saito made a nervous noise and then her eyes tightened and she opened them. She looked at Saito then sat up, stretched, and then yawned.

"Good morning Mr. Saito..." she said rubbing her eyes. "Glad to see you're awake..."

"But, why are we in bed...together," Saito nervously said, but Tiffania didn't seem to care much.

"Oh, I was cold, that's all," she said as she began readying breakfast. "If you want to go back, it will be at most six days before you can travel again."

"I think I'll stay six days even if I'm ready to travel tomorrow," Saito said grinning. "I want to repay you for saving my life and taking care of me, so is there anything I can do to help you? I know I could chop firewood!"

Without another word Saito was out the door and Tiffania heard him chopping wood the next second. She just smiled and let him. He had been all about repaying her ever since and she decided there was no changing is mind and let him. She admired him for it too. Honestly, how did she manage to find such a nice guy?

##################

"Are you sure you're ready?" Mr. Colbert asked Louise as she prepared to begin her spell. It had been just three weeks and she believed she was ready. She was even given the information of what could go wrong, but now she had to push Saito out of her mind.

"Yes," Louise said and raised her wand. Once the spell started she began chanting, "My Name is Louise Franҫoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon that rules the five powers open the summoning gate before myself and my unseen familiar."

A pentagon appeared on the floor and then a green orb appeared and with that Louise waited. It was starting to get boring and two minutes had passed when it flashed very brightly and receded to leave behind a man in a dark cloak. He stirred and got up. When he looked around he seemed curious and was speaking a strange language.

Louise and everyone else in the courtyard looked at him curiously. He seemed very confused and kept talking the same language. Soon it began to sound hostile and he drew a long sword attached to his belt and raised it in a defensive position.

 _"Why do I keep summoning these peasants?"_ Louise thought to herself as she looked at the man with one eye twitching. This was just brilliant…

 **I will say this, Louise got an interesting one. I'll explain him a little more in the author's note next chapter, but for now I hope you enjoyed this one. I tried to do my best with it. And unlike some other people DO NOT just say, "More please" or "Good Chapter" in the reviews. Please say something you enjoy about the story rather than just giving me blind praise or give a little criticism. I'd like to know what I do good and what I do bad to make the experience better for YOU as the READER. This chapter is much longer than the last it's about 4,000 words which took me most of the day to write and a good portion of yesterday.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah the clock reads ten and my mind can't stop thinking of the ideas. Here's the chapter, it's a little bit Louise oriented since I thought this OC would be good at handing her usual abuse right back to her. The end author's note will explain the new familiar. I do not own anything canon as always, so enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Canri looked down from his perch on the tree and watched as a pack of wolves ran by, but he wasn't afraid of them one bit. He knew their methods and how they worked, but he wasn't here for them. No he was here for someone else.

 _"_ _It's been years...I wonder if he really has returned here..."_ Canri thought looking up at the sky then at the ring on his hand which had fingerless gloves on them. His father told him that the ring was the family heirloom and he should protect it as best as he could. It was a beautiful gold ring with a flawless emerald in its slot and much like other jewelry of his father's people, it contained magical properties.

Canri rested on his tree and stared into the woods which housed some of the most mysterious people of this land, but he didn't need to worry about them since his father is considered one of them, but he wished he had known his father better, but Canri didn't want to think about it now.

It was midday and he had already eaten and therefore he was just resting in the tree, but he often wondered why he didn't rest on the ground like others would? Was it because of his father, because he always remembered him resting in a tree while mother rested on the ground.

A few minutes had passed when Canri looked down to see a green orb sitting on the ground. Were some of the forest dwellers playing with magic like his father would occasionally? However, he had not seen a spell anything close to this before.

Canri heard the scream of a hawk. He curiously looked towards it and noticed how the hawk was diving right for him. With its talons armed it dived right for him and started scratching and fighting for its tree and it was successful, Canri fell off after swatting at it and fell off the tree and into the green orb which then sucked him up and he felt his body being thrown somewhere else entirely. He was losing himself too as he felt like puking for a second, but then he felt himself being thrown somewhere else and felt cool air whipping past him.

When Canri got up he was grateful his hood was up because now he was inside a courtyard and surrounded by people where uniforms, humans nonetheless. He soon stood up and noticed how they were all muttering something.

"What happened?" he asked hoping they could understand him, but to no avail, they didn't understand human language. So he tried repeating it in his father's language, and no avail. He got nervous and felt the hair on his back stand on end. Even more so when he saw this one girl staring at him almost as if she was upset by something and they were all speaking in a different language.

"Stand back!" he shouted while drawing his sword. "I will not hesitate to cut any of you down!"

He noticed a bald man waving a staff around while focusing on him and he readied himself to stop whatever spell would be coming, but then he felt something in his mind change when the staff was flung in his direction. Like he could understand more than he did before.

"Can you understand us now?" the bald man asked after raising his staff. "If you can please say something."

"Wait...what did you do to me!" Canri shouted and began backing up.

###################

Louise looked curiously at the man and how he backed up with his sword still in that defensive position. He continued to back up slowly while unknowingly backing up towards a rock. When his foot hit it he stumbled backwards and his face was reveal.

Everyone gasped at the sight. He was a man of at least eighteen with shaggy, shoulder length, black hair with sideburns and summer leaf green eyes, but what really made everyone back out was when he looked at them and growled like a wild beast while baring his teeth which had four large fangs protruding from them.

"I asked what have you done to me!" he shouted while backing up slowly even more. One thing that caught him by surprise was when Mr. Colbert levitated the sword away from him. Then he got really mad and shouted, "Give that back!"

Did Louise really have to risk kissing him to mark him as her familiar? She noticed he had a bow slung on his back as well as a quiver, which was now on the ground, along with three throwing knives, a blowgun, and a hunting knife. This was quite risky.

"We're not going to hurt you," Mr. Colbert said as he stepped towards the man a little more. "Just cooperate and everything will be fine."

The man calmed down a little and Louise took this chance. She bent over looked him in the eyes then surprised him by kissing him, and she noticed as she pulled away how his eyes were still wide and he was pointing at her.

"W-What was that for?!" he said standing up immediately and stomping to her direction, but he didn't get far when steam started emitting from his chest and he clutched it tightly. "What...what have you done to me?! Why-" he said before he fell over breathing heavily as the heat reached its max point and passed out when it was over.

It was when it stopped that people began walking over to get a good look at him. He wore a black cloak, donned fingerless gloves on his hands, and wore a piece of leather armor, but what concerned everyone was his arsenal of weapons attached to him.

"Let's take him to the infirmary," Colbert said as he grabbed the shoulders as a couple other students helped out. They dragged him through the winding ad maze-like halls of the academy and then placed him in one of the many cots.

After they had him in Colbert excused everyone but Louise. When it was just them he began removing the leather armor and when it was off they noticed a large mark similar to Gundolf plastered on his hair chest which managed to burn through skin and hair leaving a very noticeable rune on his chest, presuming on could pry the armor off long enough.

"What mark is this?" Louise asked as she pointed to the rune on his chest.

"Odd...I thought you summoned a Gandaflr, but these are the runes of Lífþrasir..." Colbert said as he stared at them as well. "I would say this is odd, but I've never dealt much with Void Magic before..."

"What's Lífþrasir?" Louise asked Mr. Colbert, curious as to what power she gave this one.

"Lífþrasir is known as 'The Heart of God' it allows void magic to be boosted, but at the price of one's life. The more it is used, the more life it takes away from the user, so treat this familiar well, Miss Vallière," Colbert explained before walking out of the room and just as he did he began to wake up.

"About time," Louise said staring down at him with a cold expression.

"Huh?" the man groaned as he sat up then remembered what happened and jumped out of bed and once he did he looked down at his chest. "What is the meaning of this! What have you done to me!"

"Calm down, that's just the mark of a familiar I gave you, now what's your name?" Louise asked while tapping her wand on her other palm.

"A familiar?! Oh real funny, release me from this contract and take me back! I never agreed to this!" the man said pointing at the marks and snarling, but Louise sighed and shut out his yapping. "Hey! Answer me!"

"I can't, a contract with a familiar is for life, removing it freely has been unheard of, so I'd suggest you quit yapping," Louise said with her eyes closed and her head held high. "Plus, I still have a question unanswered, what is your name?"

"Like I'd tell you," the man said and pulled his armor and cloak back on. Once he did he noticed his sword was there and picked it up as well. "I'm going to go for a walk, so excuse me."

Louise's eyes popped open at this and she turned to face her new familiar and shouted, "Hey! You can't just walk away from your master! Come back here!"

"No," he said as he continued to walk down the halls.

"No?! Do you know who you're talking to like that?!" Louise shouted as she picked up her pace to catch up with him.

"No."

"If you keep going you don't get a meal."

"I can feed myself."

"I won't tell you where you are."

"I can find my own way."

"I will whip you!"

"I've had worse."

Louise's face reddened with anger as she pulled out the crop she always used on Saito, but as she swung it the man stepped to the right and Louise's torture toy was met with thin air and she lost balance, falling on the ground.

"Pitiful..." he said before continuing down the corridors when Louise got up and ran back to him to try and kick him in the groin much like she would do to Saito in the past, but her experience a second ago hadn't taught her anything as the person picked up their speed suddenly enough for Louise to flip herself over backwards.

"Fine...you win. What do you want?" Louise asked as she caught up to him again just as he began walking down the stairs.

"First off, what is your name? If you tell me this I will give you mine," he said while stopping suddenly. He turned around and noticed the girl gained a lot of pride at first before saying her nae and he wish he hadn't asked.

"I am Louise Franҫoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. The third daughter of the proud Lord Vallière! Now give me yours peasant!" Louise said and erected herself even more with her chin up higher and a smirk plastered across her face.

"Call me Canri," he said continuing down the steps and leaving Louise behind. Louise noticed this, steamed for a second, then hurried down the steps to catch up. "But I know who I have the honor of addressing now, a noble right? And one that was raised poorly might I add."

"E-Excuse me?!" Louise asked as her face flushed with anger making her as red and hot as a pepper. "I was not raised poorly! I was raised in a first class house and I am childhood friends with Queen Henrietta! So don't go saying I was raised poorly!"

"The nobles from where I come from are mainly much more considerate than you. Now my second question is this: Why am I familiar without my consent?" Canri asked as he walked through the lower floors of the academy to try and hopefully find his way out.

"When a mage comes of age he or she is to summon their familiar which they will spend the rest of their noble lives with."

"And the familiars are forced into it without a free will? I don't like the sound of that. Now third off where are w-" Canri began, but as he did he stepped outside and noticed immediately that there was a pink and a blue moon. What was this? There was always one moon in the sky, but two? What was going on?

"Oh...I see now. You aren't from this world, are you?" Louise asked as she noticed him gawking at the moons. "I'm sorry, I presumed you knew where this was, but apparently not. Come with me and I'll explain," she said with her entire demeanor changing from one of a snotty noble to that of what seemed like an actual person. Canri held his head low and followed her to wherever she was going without hesitation anymore since she was the only person he knew right now, as sad as it was.

#################

Saito wiped the sweat off his forehead and readied the ax. Once it was above his target he struck it down with all his might and split the log in two. He wondered if Tiffania had to do this heavy labor as well. When the thought crossed his mind he felt sorry for her. Did she have to do this heavy labor every day?

"Saito, dinner's ready," Tiffania called out from the doorway waving. "Bring the logs inside too, the fire needs some."

"Alright, Tiffania," Saito said as he grabbed the pile of freshly chopped wood and walked to the cottage. Once he reached the door, Tiffania stepped aside to let Saito through first. He was really helpful so far. He offered to do almost every little thing for her that wasn't cooking. So far he had chopped a few days worth of wood, cleaned the table after meals, made the bed a few times, and even cleaned the entire house while she was out.

"Enjoy, I put in an extra loaf of bread because you deserve it," Tiffania said while smiling warmly and when she sat down she noticed Saito looking from her plate to his. "Is something wrong?"

"Well..." Saito said breaking the bread in half and giving her one of the halves. "I don't feel comfortable taking food from you, so there, we both have extra bread now."

Tiffania chuckled a little and let him do it. She was grateful and would say he had fully paid off his debt, but she guessed that would be when he decided he no longer felt indebted enough to stay and she knew when he left she would be all alone again.

"Hey, um...Saito..." Tiffania started, looking up from her plate nervous to ask the question. "When will you leave?"

"Well...until I've thanked you for helping me," Saito said with his mouth full then swallowed. "I actually want to let everyone know I'm alive, but I'll think about visiting, don't worry."

"Saito...you've been very kind to me, I don't think I want to hold you back any longer," Tiffania said looking down at her plate while smiling sadly. Then she pushed the sadness off and looked at Saito and asked, "Where is it you want to go? I can help you get back."

"I think I want to start with the Tristein Academy of Magic. Do you think you can point that out first?" Saito asked while looking at Tiffania with enthusiasm.

"Yes, if you keep going west you'll eventually make it to the magic academy," Tiffania exlained then finished eating. "Wow...who knew half a peace of bread would make such a difference, I feel quite full. I think I'll go to sleep now."

Saito nodded and began cleaning the dishes for Tiffania as she crawled into her bed and watched Saito clean the dishes while thinking about life without him now, which was strange since it had only been three weeks at least.

"Um...Saito," Tiffania began thinking of what last kindness she could offer him. "You can sleep in the bed tonight. After all you have to travel tomorrow and need a good-night's rest."

"Nah, it's fine..." Saito said casually as he finished the last of the dishes and curled up into an area on the bench by the tale which was next to the fire. "I don't want to take your bed tonight."

"Well we could..." Tiffania began, but noticed that tired Saito had already drifted off on the raft of dreams to who knew where. "Good-night..."

###############

Louise stretched and turned over only to fall into a hole of momentary disappointment. She still wasn't used to not waking up next to Saito. It was hard to push the young man out of her mind every day and she wondered what she could have done better for him, but now he was dead and there was nothing she could do about it, but now she had a new familiar who was sleeping in the hay.

Louise sat up and looked over the bed to they hay when she noticed how there was a wolf sleeping in the bed. What was it doing there? Why was a beast in her familiar's bed?! Louise clenched her fist and growled at the wolf. This woke the beast up and it looked at her while cocking its head.

"What is the meaning of this!" Louise shouted to the ceiling while shaking her fists. "Where is my familiar!"

Then she heard the snapping of bones as a grotesque transformation occurred in the wolf as its back knees bent forward, its tail shrunk and shriveled back into its hind end, its muzzle shriveled and turned to that of a human as well as the entire face, and as this happened hair receded in certain areas areas, it stood up, and the final touches were set in place as right before her eyes as the wolf turned into her familiar, but the ears were last and ended up being covered by his shaggy hair.

"C-Canri?" Louise nervously asked while pointing a shaking finger at him. "What in the holy-"

Louise didn't even get to finish her sentence when Canri threw her clothes in her face, the ones she told him to wash last night. She was too dazed to get them off her face though. Why did her familiar turn into a wolf?!

"The humans in my world call my kind shape-shifters. We can transform at will into the animal of our choosing, but once that animal is chosen it is our permanent animal and it leaves its marks on us," Canri explained as he grabbed his own gear and put it on. "The only reason I chose to be in my animal form is because it's more comfortable to sleep on hay as a wolf."

Louise just sat there shaking as if she had just seen a ghost. Canri sighed and decided to step out while she got dressed. It was polite after all, but as he walked outside he was greeted by a very angry looking woman with glasses and a crop with another woman who had the same pink hair as Louise and a kind smile.

"Who might you be?" Cattelya asked with a smile to the mysterious man who came out of her sister's room. She and Eléonore mainly wanted to see what Louise had summoned.

"Who are you?" Canri asked crossing his arms, but then the crop was cracked from the blonde's hand. "If you try, that neat little stick of yours will be cut in half, that is not a warning."

"How dare you..." Eléonore growled and raised her crop. "How dare you come out of Louise's room and ask who we are? Do you know who you're talking to?!"

"No," Canri said unmoving.

"Filthy peasant! You will pay for insulting the Vallière family!" Eléonore yelled ready to bring the whip down.

"Thank you, now I have your names. You're the relatives of that girl in the room. I also see who raised her in such a manner to make her so harsh, now I'll be taking my leave," Canri said in a completely neutral voice and face to match then walked in between them to get by, leaving the blonde boiling mad, and he could tell as he heard the sound of the crop snapping in half.

What was with the people in this world so far? First he's summoned by a very demanding noble and is bound in a life contract with her, then he meets her overly kind and her very cruel sisters, but more weirdness was sure to follow him.

##################

"Hey, Saito?" Tiffania asked as he opened the door. Saito stopped and looked back with a smile. "If anyone asks anything about me, please tell them I am a fairy like you first thought."

"Alright," Saito said as he walked out. Once the door shut he felt bad for leaving Tiffania all alone, but he wanted to make sure everyone else knew he was alive. What scared him however was Louise. Would he get whipped like always? Saito shook this out of his head and kept running and running. He wanted to get back as soon as he could.

With it now being night, Saito took a break from traveling and started resting. He was hungry too, so he opened the food Tiffania had given him. Once he did he smiled and silently thanked her. It was full of food hat would last him alone at best a few days if he rationed it. Once Saito was finished and resting against a tree he looked at the moons and noticed how they were fairly close to each other.

"Derf, we're in Albion right?" Saito asked the sword remembering how Albion's distance from the rest of the continent depended on the two moons' distance apart. "Because if we are..."

"You guessed it! We should be able to make it back in two days!" the talking sword exclaimed excitedly. "Once we're back things will get interesting!"

"Don't remind me..." Saito whined. "I think I know very well what will happen."

##################

"So you're telling me that this is your new familiar?" Eléonore asked in disbelief as she had both people sitting on the floor. "Why did you have to summon another peasant? For once could have summoned something worthy of the Vallière name!"

Louise looked down and tried to block her sister out when Cattelya leaned down and said, "I think he's a very fine familiar Louise, and Mr...Canri was it?" The shape-shifter nodded and listened to what she had to ask. "Mr. Canri, I heard from Louis that you can transform into a wolf right?"

Canri nodded and to give proof to the blonde he did his transformation right then and there. This left both the women in shock and at a loss for words. He wasn't too worried since shape-shifting was something this world didn't see much of. Once he was sure they had a good grasp that he could transform he turned back into his human form.

"Amazing!" Cattelya said putting on a smile right away, but Eléonore stood there with a look much like Louise's. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I didn't exactly 'learn' like your sister is learning magic, I was born with the ability, but I chose the wolf form. Where I come from there is a lot of prejudice against my kind, but there aren't any shape-shifters here right?"

"At least you'll be a good dog right?" Louise asked crossing her arms, but this only earned her a growl from Canri who left the room without question or excusing himself. This left the three girls in the room blinking, but they recovered quickly which ended in Louise kicking them both out of her room.

#########################

Saito thanked the palace coachman and looked at the academy. It was the afternoon now, but that hardly mattered. Saito began running until he reached the same gates he had tried to escape through one night when Guiche caught him with levitation magic and as he looked around he remembered many other things from living here. He walked around the courtyard for a bit wondering where everyone was then he saw all the students listening to Mr. Osmond.

Saito sneaked a little closer making sure he could hear, but no one noticed. He waited for a moment then Osmond began speaking, "Now, as you all know, intervention by the Kingdom of Galia forced the Albion troops to surrender, and the war that lasted eight months has finally come to an end. I want all students here to realize that this peace is founded on numerous sacrifices. Let us say a prayer for those who gave their lives to protect the kingdom. Therefore, let us have a moment of silence."

All the students bowed their heads and prayed for their fallen comrades and all the soldiers who died in Albion. The moment lasted half a minute before Osmond began speaking again. He cleared his throat to signify he was going to speak then inhaled deeply.

"I-" Osmond began, but he didn't get far before he began hacking up a storm. When he was done with his scene he started up again, "I would like to thank one man for making it possible that so many of you made it back alive. The one young man who fought the entire advancing army of seventy thousand to protect his comrades and those close to him. So today at this academy we honor Saito Hiraga for sacrificing his life for us."

Saito grinned knowing it was the perfect time to cut in and began walking casually towards the crowd and said, "Thank you Osmond, but why honor the living as dead?"

Everyone turned around and gasped. Even Osmond was taken by such surprise that his eyeballs nearly exploded out of his head. For a few moments everyone stood there and stared at the man who had been presumed dead a month ago, so no one knew what to say.

"Hi," Saito said casually to break the silence and when he did people yelled in surprise and ran over to him. In moments the young man was surrounded by people forcing questions and demanding answers like mad, but then one person broke the crowd and seemed pretty pissed. "Hi Louise."

"H-HI?!" Louise asked as her temper flew up off the bat. "Y-You're supposed to be dead! I saw the proof that you died with my own eyes! You don't show up for weeks and all you say is HI?!"

Louise was now holding her wand and pointing it straight at him and chanted several magic words. When she started several people evacuated the premisses since everything with Louise and her wand ended in an explosion of some sort. She chanted as Saito sat there too scared to move. He was dead for sure!

"Um...Louise..." he said nervously while stupidly smiling, but she continued on. That's when he finally got the courage to start running, but it was too late.

"Explosion!" Louise shouted and engulfed Saito in her spell which sent him flying upwards. He flew for quite a while and when he was coming down and thinking he was going to die he shouted her name in anger for once, but when he was inches off the ground he felt himself come to a sudden stop and felt sick to his stomach from it, but he looked over and noticed Osmond's staff pointed right at him.

"Thank you!" he shouted before he was dropped to the ground.

"You are coming with me!" Louise yelled and started dragging Saito by his ear. She dragged him like that up the stairs, through the halls, and when she opened the door to her room she kicked him in to have his face land on the pole of her bed.

Canri looked up in surprise then lowered his head back to resting between his paws. Saito then backwards crawled quickly to a corner where he noticed Louise grab her spiked whip, the one he dreaded more than the crop.

"This is how you say hi to someone you thought dead for weeks?!" Saito shouted then earned a whip to the face. "What was that for!"

"You...stupid...dog..." Louise said with her whip in hand, but then she suddenly lost her balance and was lying on the floor sleeping. That's when Saito noticed a man with black shaggy hair and sideburns on the hay he used to sleep on with a blowgun in his mouth.

"Who are you?" Sato asked him, but he just walked over to Louise and pulled a sleeping dart out. "Thanks, I don't get why she did this even though I'm not her familiar anymore."

"So you're the one I filled in for..." the man muttered before sitting down on the hay. "My name is Canri, and I expect some kind of explanation of what happened here. I don't see my so called 'master whipping random people."

Louise slowly got up from the dart and rubbed the back of her neck where it had been shot, she didn't get any time to start raging before a knock on the door was heard. When Louise answered it to see Agnes on the other side.

"Miss Vallière, her familiar, and Saito! You three have been summoned by Queen Henrietta. Please come with me, we leave immediately."

* * *

 **So for anyone who wants to know where Canri is from, he is actually a character from a book I'm writing. More about his past as well as his world will be revealed over the coarse of this story. Now I hope you enjoyed seeing all the abusers choking on their own medicine. Next chapter is going to be pretty obvious and for a quick and useless spoiler: Louise hasn't entirely gotten over Saito yet, but he has more or less gotten over her. The push is going to be a little long for a fair warning. As always DO NOT GIVE BLIND PRAISE if you review state something you enjoy about this and I am open to criticism.**


	4. Chapter 4

Saito stared at Canri who was curled up on the floor in his wolf form. How did Louise end up getting this one? However, what bothered him most now was Louise's gloomy attitude right now so he moved over to her side, but he didn't expect her to talk first.

"Why are you here?" she asked without looking at him at all. "You aren't my familiar anymore."

"You take this familiar and master thing too seriously..." Saito said crossing his arms. This got the girl's attention as she looked up at her previous familiar. Why was he still acting nice despite her constant misuse of him?

"You're free, so you don't need to stay with an abusive master like me anyways," she said looking at the ground to the sleeping familiar. Saito was free, why was he being nice to her?

"So I'm supposed to ignore anything nice you did for me in the past?" Saito asked smiling. This once again made Louise looked at Saito. She stayed silent and looked at him curiously. "Even though you could have been a little nicer, but you've been kind at times as well now that I look at it."

"But that doesn't excuse what I did! I want what's best for you and-" Louise said getting angry and getting really close to his face. Once she did his entire expression changed and she just looked out the window until they took a break at the lake.

Louise immediately left the carriage walking towards the forest. Saito wanted to talk with her, but when he tried she gave him the cold shoulder and left Saito with Agnes and Canri.

Canri, as he got out, stretched and bent his appendages which each gave inhumanly loud cracks and snaps as he did since the bones had just transformed back to normal. He was used to this, but he could see Agnes, who had never seen him transform, looking at him curiously. He didn't care if his abilities were revealed, but he didn't feel like transforming back just yet since he had just gotten comfortable.

Canri watched his master cautiously as he noticed something in the woods as darkness to normal human eyes, but to his enhanced eyes he could see a shadow dart somewhere through the woods. Maybe it was an animal, but he would keep his ears open for any out of place twitch or rustle, but now he was thirsty.

Canri walked right over to the lake and dipped his cupped hands in to scoop up as much water as he could and drank it. That was when he noticed the musketeer, or whatever her title was, eying him curiously as he drank straight from the untested lake.

"We have a water supply if you need a drink," Agnes said walking over to him, but he just denied her request and continued to drink from the water. It didn't make him any more comfortable as the woman continued to stare at him like a hawk. "Why do you drink from there? I wouldn't call it healthy in the slightest."

"Because I don't care and I'm used to this water. It isn't like it's guaranteed to make me sick," Canri said once his thirst was quenched. "Why does it bother you anyways?"

"I was just curious," Agnes responded and then walked somewhere else. She found this man more curious than Saito when she first met him. That cracking of his back was an odd phenomenon as well. What was with this man? He was unlike anything she had ever seen before, so Agnes continued to eye him from time to time while she kept guard.

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Louise walked through the dark woods thinking about Saito. Why was he still kind to her after all the horrible things she did? He wasn't her familiar anymore, but why did he still have the mark of Gandalfr? Is it possible he still liked her?

 _"_ _NO, he's just a dumb familiar...why am I worrying over this?"_ she thought. As Louise wandered through the dark forest she could have sworn someone was watching her from the darkness, but she couldn't see them, so she just kept walking and then came into a small clearing that managed to leak enough light through to let daisies grow. Louise decided to sit down on a nearby log and pulled out a daisy.

 _"If he isn't my familiar, will he still stay by my side? Will he still like me?"_ Louise asked herself as she plucked the peddles one by one. As she did her frustration grew and she plucked them faster and faster until she reached her breaking point.

"Gah, this is annoying!" she shouted then tore off the rest of the peddles and threw the remains of the flower into the air. Then she just sat there looking at the ground. "Why am I working myself up over this?"

It was then that another flower sneaked up from under her and right into her eyesight. "Thanks," she said and reached her hand to the first peddle, but who had given it to her? She looked towards where it had appeared to see an álfie dressed in knight's armor and a sword sheathed on its side. She just stared at it and said to herself, "An álfie? What's it doing here?"

As soon as Louise asked that question the doll drew its sword and raised it. It didn't take Louise a split second to notice this and react as she hopped backwards and drew her wand. By the time she did the álfie already was in a fighting stance with its sword pointed at her. That's when she heard it, a maniacal laughter coming from somewhere in the woods.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Vallière, great Inheritor of the Void," a female voice said. Louise couldn't determine where it came from and it wasn't anyone she knew. It scared her all the same. This person knew who she was, knew she could use Void Magic, and talked like she would win for sure.

"Who are you? Identify yourself coward!" Louise demanded trying to sound tough even though deep down she was scared. Whoever this was knew what she was doing and Louise heard the cocky laughter again.

"Hmm..." it said as if thinking then finished, "You can call me Sheffield...I suppose."

"Quit messing with me!" Louise shouted as she determined where it came from now and foolishly turned her wand in that direction and saw a dark cloaked figure. It was very creepy since a faint glow emitted from her hood, but Louise still could not see the woman's face.

"I wouldn't do that because my little álfie here can pierce your heart faster than you can call on a spell," Sheffield said. Louise widened her eyes remembering the armed doll then looked down with her eyes to see its sword pointed right at her throat. This only increased her fear. She couldn't fight them alone, but how could she call for help? She didn't get much time though when she heard a growl then looked over to see several gargoyles with purple runes on their chests walk up.

"I'm going to take you home with me. You see...my master is in need of a darling little Void user, so won't you come with me?" Sheffield asked walking out of the shadows.

"As if!" Louise shouted then put as much power as she could spare into a random spell with the goal of making it explode lie they always did. It worked and a bright white light quickly filled the forest as she begged for someone, anyone to notice the large explosion about to take place.

#################

The three by the lake noticed the explosion immediately, a large boom and a small mushroom cloud came from the area. Saito was the first one to realize what was happening knowing Louise wouldn't give off that kind of explosion unless she needed help. Without hesitation he drew Derflinger and raced into the forest, but as he ran for it he heard the sound of bones snapping and bending, and within seconds later Saito saw a wolf speed by into the forest. One last person was missing though.

Saito looked back to see Agnes looking at where Canri had disappeared to in shock. She was wide eyed and deep in thought, but Saito would definitely need her help so he turned around and shouted, "Agnes! Snap out of it!"

Agnes heard him and stopped staring miles away. Once she was out of her trance she nodded and began running after Saito who was already in the woods. Just what was that though? What had Canri turned into all of a sudden?!

Agnes shook it out of her mind again and concentrated on finding Louise and keeping her safe, hence her orders from Henrietta.

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Sheffield chuckled to herself thinking that the spell just now was a screw up. Perhaps now was a good time to intimidate the girl more so she walked up to the coughing Louise whose explosion had taken out Sheffield's doll, her gargoyles, and some local plants, but like she cared about the plants.

Once Sheffield was close to Louise she began to intimidate her more by saying, "Unfortunately for you, I can control any magic item there is."

Louise didn't take this well and jumped back to shoot an exploding ball of magic at Sheffield, but she planted a gargoyle seed just in time to be her living shield. She also took this grand opportunity to scare or anger Louise more and vanished somewhere else. She kept moving, and as she did she said, "It won't work. I've been studying you for a long time now. Try all you want, you can't defeat me like that."

Louise would be lying if she said she was scared, but she couldn't reveal that to her enemy and decided to question her more by asking, "Why are you after me? What do you want from me?"

Sheffield laughed and said, "The first reason is that you're a Void user of course. That goes for the familiar too, so shall I tell you more?"

Louise saw Sheffield again and pointed her wand at her, but she wanted to no more and she knew she would as Sheffield began removing her hood.

"I am known as Miodaitnir," she said removing her hood to reveal her face, but what captured Louise's attention the most were the purple runes slapped on her forehead. They were much similar to those on Canri's chest and Saito's left hand. Once she knew that much Louise gasped. "Miodaitnir translates to, 'Mind of God' so that's right I am also a Void familiar. To a certainly most elegant master, but where is your familiar? Taking a nap somewhere, or is he gone now?"

Louise was getting angry now. How did this woman know so much about her, yet she knew nothing about this woman. She tried not to show her anger and asked, "How do you know that?"

"That's enough. Time to tak you away," Sheffield said as several more gargoyles came from behind her to go for Louise.

Louise raised her wand and it sparkled with electricity and blew up the first gargoyle, but once she did this the next one came after her and she didn't have enough time! All she could do was shield herself and wait for the pain, but then she heard it being tackled to the ground and once it was she saw something let go of its neck and run into the forest quickly.

The next one came, but Saito came right in front of her and pushed it back. Why was Saito here of all times though? He wasn't her familiar anymore, but she couldn't deny, even in the dim forest light, that right in front of her protecting her was Saito, her old familiar.

"Saito! Why are you here?" Louise asked in shock. Why was he protecting her? "You aren't-" she began, but he interrupted her before she could finish that last part.

"YOUR familiar anymore? A bunch of bull there. A guy's got to protect his friends right?" Saito said as he cut down the next gargoyle that came at him. Louise just sat there looking at Saito as he fought them off with determination to protect her. "Just trust me with your life and start chanting some Void magic!"

"Pay attention, partner!" Derflinger shouted as the next gargoyle came for Saito. Saito blocked its attack and stabbed it, but more were coming and this time two at once. He tried to find a way to do so, but then a gunshot was heard and one fell, then the next fell forward with an arrow in the back of its head.

Agnes and Canri then ran in to join the battle. Agnes helped Saito fight off gargoyles and Canri had thrown a knife into the face of a gargoyle who was coming up on one of Saito's blind spots. Once it was dead he drew his own sword and ran into the fight. He noticed a cloaked figure staniding on the branches overhead, but she disappeared in shadows before Canri could speak a single word.

"Explosion!" Louise shouted as a huge explosion filled the trees and knocked some of them down, but when everyone opened their eyes they were fine and Louise seemed exhausted. She could've used less energy for that spell, but at least everything was calm now, but it was much darker now thanks to the dust.

"Louise, we did it!" Saito shouted as her ran to his ex-master, but he was only greeted with shouting as Louise began ranting to him, some of it gibberish, but after a while she stopped and calmed down. She was looking at the ground and blushing a little bit too.

"Thank you for saving me though," she said then turned to Canri who picked up his throwing knife from the ground and the arrow he used on the gargoyle.

"You stupid dog! Who do you think you are wandering from your master?! Look what happened!"

Canri didn't seem happy at this and turned around growling low. Once he had Louise back off he said, "Me wander off? You are the one who wandered off!"

"Well you should've stayed by my side!" Louise shouted back.

"You wanted to be alone!"

"I don't care! You stay by my side you dog!"

"Don't call me a dog!"

Their argument went on all the way back to the carriage, when Canri refused to talk anymore leaving Louise shouting at him for the rest of the trip to the palace because when they arrived Louise was told by Agnes to stop, and she did.

###################

Henrietta looked out the window nervously awaiting their arrival. It had been almost a month since she last spoke to Louise, but she had never apologized for almost sending her to her death, and then there was Saito who she had heard returned. Henrietta had put it together in a short time, but the piece of paper she stared at was her only gift to Saito.

Henrietta stood in her office which was now mostly empty except for a desk. The war wasn't pointless, but the kingdom was now in debt. The national treasury was now empty and the furniture had been sold off, but she would do whatever she could to help.

"Your Highness! We've arrived," she heard Agnes say through the door. Henrietta smiled at this and as they came in Saito and Luise noticed immediately how empty the room was.

"What happened? The room is empty," Louise said looking around at the once lavishly decorated office which now just had a simple table in it.

"The war emptied the national treasury, so I sold off the furniture to help what little I could," Henrietta said still smiling as if nothing was wrong.

"To think that you had to make such a sacrifice, princess..." Louise said feeling sorry for Henrietta, but what she did not expect next was Henrietta began to cry.

"No..." she said grabbing Louise's hands as tears trickled down her face. "I almost lost you in that war. I not only tried to use you for your powers, but I nearly sent you to your death. How can I ever apologize?"

"Henrietta..." Louise said getting emotional too. "Don't be sorry...I didn't die. We're both still alive thanks to Saito."

"Yes, and that brings me to another question," Henrietta said walking to her desk and picking up a piece of paper written in Tristain's national language and stamped with a royal seal. The queen walked over to Saito and handed him the paper and said, "Mr. Saito, I cannot thank you enough. You are a hero of Tristain."

Saito took the paper and looked at it confused. He still couldn't read their language even though he could somehow speak it, but that was thanks to a special magic spell Louise had accidentally placed on him.

Henrietta noticed this and decided to explain, "This is a letter of appointment. A request to make you a Chevalier, one of my royal knights."

"A letter of appointment?" he asked confused, but also surprised.

"Yes, a hero must be given the honor he deserves, so you will accept this, will you not?" Henrietta asked, but Saito stared blankly at it for a while as Louise read it with a surprised look on her face.

"Um...I can't read this and I don't get what you're saying yet, to tell you the truth," Saito admitted nervously.

"Are you kidding me?! You're going to be a noble you idiot!" Louise shouted to his face appalled that after all his time here he didn't get any of it yet.

"What?!" Saito asked surprised. He would be a noble if he accepted this piece of paper?!

"Yes," Henrietta said smiling at the two. They still had remnants of their old relationship and seeing it made her happy. "You see Saito, every noble and soldier that could fled Albion, but you alone stayed behind to protect us by putting your life on the line. For weeks and weeks to come you are being praised as a hero. This is the least I could do for you."

Saito snapped up and went into thought for a little while. He had died...his heart had stopped in that battle and he had died. How could he be given this honor now? All he had shown was bravery that ended up being his sacrifice for all the people he knew and cared about, so he handed the paper back to a now very surprised Henrietta. Even Louise was taken aback by this. Who refused the offer of nobility from royalty?

"I don't think I can accept this just yet," Saito said handing Henrietta the letter. "It's very generous, but I wish to think over it."

"I see...but may I ask why?" Henrietta asked. She was very curious as to why Saito would be denied such an honor.

"I don't wish to raise alarm, but..." Saito began as he remembered himself dying and coming back to life at the hands of Tiffania.

"His heart stopped beating in that battle," Derflinger explained simply. "His contract with Louise faded then too."

"Then how did you return alive?" Henrietta asked concerned. How could Saito die then return here walking and breathing? It was very confusing.

"Well..." Saito began thinking. Then he remembered Tiffania's request to be called a fairy and not an elf. "A fairy saved me."

"The fairy had a magical ring she wore, you see. The ring brought him back to life, and that's it in a nutshell," Derflinger explained since he remembered the whole thing.

Louise and Henrietta exchanged looks of equal questioning and seemed to be thinking the same thing, but Henrietta shared her thoughts.

"To think that there is magic that can bring people back from the dead..." she said to Louise who nodded in agreement. They both turned back to Derflinger and Henrietta asked, "What is this fairy called and where does it live?"

"In the South Gotha region of Albion, in Westwood Village...ah and I'm at a loss for her name...what was it, partner?" Derflinger explained and asked sarcastically. Saito looked up for a moment then remembered suddenly.

"Her name was Tiffania."

"Tiffania...it's not a name I've heard before..." Henrietta said as she put her hand on her chin to help her think. She wanted to thank this 'fairy' personally, but she couldn't leave the castle. "Agnes, please go to Westwood Village and seek out this Tiffania."

"Yes your majesty!" Agnes said straightening up into a dignified and military manner, but Saito wasn't comfortable with this. Tiffania was shy and she must have had a reason for keeping her identity as an elf secret.

"Wait!" Saito exclaimed, stopping Agnes in her tracks as well as the other two ladies. "It'd be better if I went too."

"Hold it right there!" Louise yelled at Saito and grabbed his ear before he could start walking. "What if you're attacked again!"

This caught Henrietta off guard and immediately questioned Louise about it. When she did Louise lost a little enthusiasm, but she explained Sheffield and what she told her nonetheless. After that they had decided that all four of them would go.

#################

"Please let me on!" Saito shouted as he ran with the carriage barely keeping up, but he was thankful she hadn't told Agnes to speed up more.

"Not until you tell me who renewed your runes!" Louise shouted at the top of her lungs. "I am not letting you back on until you answer me! Agnes go faster!"

Agnes looked back then forward and sighed. This is why she didn't want to bring Louise along with Saito. All they did was fight half the trip, but she would endure.

This fight started when they were talking about Saito's runes since Derflinger had said his contract was gone. When a contract disappeared so did the runes so Saito mst've ran into another Void mage or something. This got Louise very angry. Who would dare to kiss her man, or worse...who would he dare to kiss, but this scene was shortly interrupted when Agnes stopped for someone calling out to them down the road.

Saito collapsed to take some deep breaths then looked up at Siesta's smiling face. What was she doing here? Siesta wasn't part of the mission so why was she here and how did she know?

"Siesta? What are you doing here?" Louise asked surprised, but also partly frustrated since the slutty maid was here now to make some moves on Saito, but Louise kept that hidden and was more curious as to why she had all those cases and bags on her back also surprised how the delicate girl could carry so much. "What are those?"

Siesta smiled with stars in her eyes and opened them all up to reveal food, ingredients, knives, forks, pots, pans, and several other cooking utensils and said, "They're my cooking supplies! Without me how would you eat?"

Agnes and Louise looked at each other for a bit then sighed as if they could communicate telepathically then agreed to let Siesta on who not only dragged her supplies, but also dragged the breathing Saito in too and sat by him across from Louise.

"Why does the stray mutt have to sit with us?" Louise questioned the maid who was wrapping her arms around Saito's, but what concerned Saito the most was how Louise was clearly ticked. "So get away from him!"

"No way!" Siesta said tightening her grip. This left both people in the carriage surprised. "Saito isn't your familiar anymore, so we should leave it up to his free will. Wouldn't you prefer sitting next to me…Mr. Saito?" Siesta asked pressing herself more up against the young man, but this made Louise angrier, so angry, in fact, she was near her breaking point, but dumb Saito spoke the truth.

"Um...sure…?" Saito kind of answered, but then he noticed Louise looking down at him while standing up in the carriage holding her crop.

"You're worse than a mutt…" Louise said with seething anger. "You're a flea!"

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Saito and the others sat around the fire and waited for their meal to be served by Siesta. It had been a couple days since their departure and it was a good chance to get to Albion in short time since the two moons were still close together.

"Here you are Mr. Saito," Siesta said giving him his bowl. Saito thanked her then looked at Louise who wasn't eating.

"You won't be growing in any measurement if you don't eat," Saito joked trying to make conversation, but Louise didn't even get mad. All she did was say she would go sleep in the carriage and after that Siesta left to wash the dishes leaving Saito alone with Agnes, Canri, and Derflinger.

Saito looked over to Agnes who was carving some wood with her knife then to the other familiar sitting against a nearby tree napping, but it didn't last for long when Agnes threw a sword in the shape-shifter's direction.

"It may be crude, but it's useful for training. I wish to test your skills since you showed excellent swordsmanship the other day," she said standing above him. He opened an eye and looked at the crudely cut practice sword. He grinned and picked it up. As soon as he did he noticed Agnes swinging down towards him, but his sharpened senses and quick reflexes caught this and he dodged to the side leaving her to strike the tree.

Agnes smiled knowing she picked a worthy opponent. They clashed with wooden sword each seeming to have the upper hand, both masters of the blade. The difference between their styles was Canri relied more on strength and speed while Agnes focused more on defending herself and performing counter attacks. The hours in the night went on and they continued to fight. Both seemed to have the upper hand until Agnes ducked under one of his strikes and counter attacked him by jabbing him in the stomach.

Canri lost his balance and Agnes was about to put him in a yield position when Canri drew his knife and blocked the wooden sword. Then he rolled over to the wooden blade and picked it up. They continued on until none of them could fight anymore.

"Where did you learn your swordsmanship?" Agnes asked sitting down by the fire.

"My father taught me the basics. I learned the rest on my own, but I can guess you've honed your skills for many years," Canri said lying down slightly away from the fire. "Good match though you almost had me."

"Yes, now let's go to sleep. Someone seems worried," Saito said pointing to the carriage when he noticed Louise staring out the window. When they looked at her she immediately vanished from sight.

"We should reach the South Gotha region tomorrow," Agnes explained before crawling in her sleeping bag. "So get some rest, we'll need it for tomorrow."

 **I hope you enjoyed! This was a little more delayed because the last two days were a little more busy than usual. I didn't have too much time to return, but here it is. I gave in to the Internet's call. Now I can rest easy tonight...hopefully. I hope you enjoyed and as always STATE SOMETHING YOU ENJOYED it makes me feel better if you state something you enjoyed about the chapter or the story and helps me write. Just saying "good chapter" doesn't really help. It's praise and I like that, but it isn't on much standing for me. Give it some support so I can see the praise better. Things will become a little delayed starting the 15th because then it will be back to Driver's Ed. So I will try to get as much done before then. Thank you and I'll see you all next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

"We'll reach Westwood Village by twilight," Agnes said to a napping Saito in the front of the carriage. "So keep an eye out for anything you might recognize."

Saito nodded and began looking around. It was the afternoon now and they were going through a forest road. Saito could have sworn he'd sen this forest before, but he couldn't place his finger where Tiffania would be or if the were anywhere near her home, but he kept looking.

It had been half an hour now and twilight would arrive soon. This didn't help the patience of the pink haired wrath in the back either. Saito was doing his best too. He looked and squinted his eyes in areas he thought he saw before, yet nothing came up.

"Are you sure we're in the right region?" Louise asked in frustration. All she wanted was out since they had been traveling non-stop since morning. She was sick and tired of the road now and wanted off.

"Let him concentrate. He hasn't been here for a while!" Derflinger yelled from his sheathe. "Stupid woman..."

As Saito looked he noticed someone walking through the forest. He looked closer and noticed how they had long golden hair, a light green dress, and a hat. In fact all those descriptions he noted matched Tiffania. Wait it was her! Saito shouted for them to stop and got out to run to her without warning causing many concerns among the group.

"Hey!" Saito shouted smiling waving his hand and running to Tiffania, but he must've been too far away because she looked back, dropped the basket she was carrying, and ran away. Saito just picked up speed though and when he ran through a bush that she had just ran through. "Tiffania it's me, Saito!"

She stopped immediately and turned around cautiously while still holding her hat. She looked at the familiar face and asked, "Mr...Saito?"

Saito nodded and her face lit up the brightest he ever saw it. She began running to him waving and calling his name. Just then the three women had came through the bush and the first thing Louise and Siesta saw were Tiffania's assets bouncing around ever which way they pleased. They were huge were they even real?!

"Wh-wh-what are those…?" Louise asked pointing towards Tiffania's 'things' as best as she could. She was shaking in utter shock and so was Siesta. Agnes, on the other hand, just grinned as Tiffania jumped in to the air tackled Saito to the ground in a hug.

"Breasts, I think..." Siesta said as they both sweated and furrowed their brows. What was going on?! Now she was on top of Saito with those monstrosities pushing on him! Next thing that ticked Louise off she swore Saito would be blown to smithereens without a second thought.

"I never thought we'd see each other again!" Tiffania exclaimed happily and began getting off of him, but Saito seemed shocked. Was she too sudden? That changed however when he began smiling.

"It's good to see you too, Tiffania," Saito said giving off a smile. Tiffania gave one in turn then turned her attention to a basket now being held to the side of her head. She took it and looked to the side to see a rough looking man standing right there. In fact, behind him were several other people.

"Um...Saito?" Tiffania asked looking at the people. "Who are they?"

"I'll greet them to you, but for now. Let's go, it'll be dark soon," Saito said helping Tiffania up. She nodded and walked them all back to her house. Once they were inside she made them tea. Once that was done she and Saito sat on the floor, on their knees, and talked like old friends who haven't seen each other in a while, completely ignoring the steaming mad pink haired mage in the room.

Louise watched with growing anger at Tiffania as she chatted with Saito as if they'd done it several times before. With each little movement Tiffania made flared up Louise's anger more than each word. Eventually she stood by them both while tapping her foot. Once they turned and looked up she spoke.

"I want you both to explain yourselves this instant!" she yelled while crossing her arms. She was in front of the fire which was burning wildly behind her and hopefully for her, adding more to her intimidation. Then she pointed to Saito and said, "Saito...you have been gone for weeks and whoever this is you're happy to hug her on the ground and chat with her like an old friend, huh?"

Saito through this had a, you have got to be kidding me, face through this, but when she finished she pointed in Tiffania's direction while at the same time mortifying the poor girl as her expression suddenly changed to a mixture of embarrassed and terrified. Saito wouldn't let Tiffania take this and tried to intervene and explain.

"Louise, you have it all wrong! Th-" Saito was tried to explain, but Louise wouldn't let him talk. In the background Siesta was peeking from a corner worried while Agnes leaned against a wall with a, what the..., face.

Louise's temper flared up and she asked very ticked, "What do you mean by that, peasant! You're saying you got intimate with a stranger?! I don't believe it! I can't believe I didn't train you enough so that you turned out…a flea?! Hopping from one girl to the next?!"

"Weren't you listening at all?!" Saito asked with the same face when Louise started this conversation. "This is Tiffania, the person who saved my life!"

Louise immediately became shocked and looked at Tiffania's face then down a little bit while saying, "So you're Tiffania, the fairy of the forest, eh?"

"Fairy?" she asked completely forgetting her request to Saito to be called a fairy. As she tilted her head what Louise was looking at moved, and that increased her rage.

"Ah, I see, I see. I finally understand..." Louise said ready to go into a rage. It was the calm before the storm. Then she leaned her hand on a wall to keep her face from leaning on it and started talking to herself out loud. "No wonder Saito wanted to come here so badly… It's all for those breasts, huh?"

Tiffania stood up blushing in embarrassment and tried to convince Louise herself, but all she could utter was, "N-no! That's not how it is!"

"Really?!" Louise said her rage kicking in now. Once she turned around she was so mad you could almost see burning fire in her eyes. "You embrace each other so tightly, and say there's NOTHING between you two?!"

Saito was now with Agnes and Siesta worried for his life and curious to see how someone like Tiffania standing up for him would turn out, but this didn't turn out well. Louise walked up to Tiffania and got in her face just to speak her jealousy by exclaiming, "But you were pressing those...those monstrosities up against him!"

Tiffania was pushed to the other side of the room and spun, and as she did she yelled, "I did no such thing!"

"Yes you were!" Louise shouted, briskly waling after Tiffania. "Then what? You're saying what I saw wasn't real?!" Once that sentence was over Tiffania was getting up after crashing and Louise went behind her and said, "Are you saying those 'things' are empty inside?! If you say they aren't real I'll see for myself!" What Louise did next gave Saito an extreme nose bleed that knocked him backwards and surprised even Canri who dropped his tea and stared at what his so called 'master' was doing with wide eyes. She was behind Tiffania and messing with her!

"Please stop Miss Louise!" Tiffania begged as she was violated by the pink haired wrath, but to no avail. Louise kept going while ranting on.

"Talk about a lack of sensible boundaries! Bigger isn't better! These can't be real! They're something inhuman! How are you not ashamed for bouncing these 'things' around?!"

Saito couldn't take it anymore. This time Louise had gone too far! He walked right up to her and shoved her away from Tiffania. Once he did he looked right into Louise's eyes while standing protectively in front of a traumatized Tiffania and yelled, "Enough! I told you that this person saved my life! How could you attack her like that?! Stop doing this because you're envious!"

Louise was about to argue, but then she realized something. He was protecting her, she had saved his life, and they were so friendly. Had she really lost her chances with Saito? Is this why he never came back for a month? Her anger quickly turned to sadness as she ran out shouting, "I get I! Have lots of fun with the girl who saved your life!"

Once the door slammed shut Saito took a deep breath and turned to Tiffania and asked her, "Are you alright? I'm very sorry about that. Louise gets very mad and jealous whenever I'm friendly with another girl. Especially one for the reasons she listed just now."

"Yes, thank you Mr. Saito," Tiffania said kindly. As soon as she did Siesta was the next to walk out. She only said she was going to find Louise, but Agnes knew something else was up and sighed.

###################

Louise threw the rock as hard as she could into the carving of Saito's face. What was with him! How could he leave her for that Tiffania? She ranted to herself for minute about Saito and Tiffania, but then she remembered the other day when he came to protect her from Sheffield.

"What happened?" she asked herself as she recalled how her rage flicked on and all the things she had said and done to Tiffania. She looked down and curled her hands with anger pointed at herself. "I didn't even ask. That girl brought him back to life and healed him, and yet...I just..."

Tears began rolling down Louise's cheeks as she thought about how horrible she had treated Saito and now how horrible she treated someone who saved him all because of her size.

 _"_ _I didn't listen...I yelled at them because I was jealous...I'm the worst..."_ she thought while sitting there, wallowing in her own depression. _"I didn't talk to Saito for most of the time and when I did I wasn't very nice. I forced him to run with the carriage just because I wanted to know who renewed his runes. What's wrong with me?"_

"Ms. Vallière," she heard someone say behind her. Louise looked back to see Siesta smiling kindly at her. "Everyone is worried. We should get back now."

Louise got up and nodded. They began returning and partway through Siesta began to mae conversation to try and cheer Louise up.

"Miss Tiffania's very cute, don't you think? Those 'things' are pretty uncalled for too, right?" Siesta asked. Louise stopped in her tracks thinking for a moment and Siesta stopped in front of her and turned to face her.

Louise perked up immediately and got an evil look in her eye. Once she did she said, "You're right Siesta! Those monstrosities are to blame!"

"I know, we sure think alike."

"Yes, and you know what I'm thinking right now?" Louise asked as they grabbed each others' hands.

Siesta nodded and they raised their hands shouting, "Down with Tiffania and her monstrosities!" Once that was said they began chanting as if they were rallying for a war of some kind.

Then, out of nowhere, some kind of weird liquid metal bounced past them startling the two girls. When they turned around there were glowing wolf creatures surrounding them and growling. That's when they heard this, "Inheritor of the Void. It will be over sooner if you call for help with that cute little voice of yours."

"Sheffield!" Louise shouted remembering the voice immediately. Once she said this she heard the woman's laugh through the forest.

"Oh, you remember me. I'm touched, but go ahead and call for help from the other Void user. They should be nearby."

"No way!" Louise shouted readying her wand for an explosion, but one of the creatures knocked it out of her hand. Once this happened she screamed. Her weapon was gone and the creatures began pouncing her.

#################

Inside the cottage, everyone heard the screams. Saito was the first to recognize it and ran out. Then shortly after he noticed Canri running with him not in wolf form. Agnes, however, stayed behind with Tiffania to watch over her.

"Why aren't you in wolf form?" Saito asked the shape-shifter curiously as he ran with him.

"Because I'm thinking of a plan. Once we get there don't rush in until I give the signal. Once that happens get those two out of there. I'll kill off the enemy in the confusion."

Saito nodded. He didn't know what Canri planned to do, but he would trust this person. He just wanted to save his friends after all and Canri seemed to know what he was doing.

Once they were near Louise and Siesta they hid behind a bush. Saito could see Sheffield and she was asking about another Void user. They were surrounded by wolf-like creatures and their clothes had been torn up. This angered Saito, but then he remembered Canri's orders, so Saito restrained himself.

Canri grinned inwardly knowing his plan should work. He remembered his father's lessens then began chanting, "O Lord of Shadows, he who is neither light nor dark, grant me your elusive powers so I may hide and escape my enemy. Shadow Mist!"

Then everywhere a dark mist suddenly appeared around Louise, the wolves, and Sheffield. Saito didn't waste time and ran in to grab Louise and Siesta, but it was hard to see in this dark mist. Then he heard their screams. He ran towards them and saw two of the creatures ready to attack.

Without wasting time, Saito killed both on the spot and ran up to both girls to make sure they were ok. Both were holding each other and shaking with their eyes closed.

"Hey!" Saito yelled. Both of them snapped out of it and looked at Saito. "We need to get out of here now!"

"Saito, what's going on?" Louise asked as she looked around only to see blackish smoke. She was scared, but she and Siesta followed Saito despite him not answering the question yet. Once they were out Saito placed them behind a bush. After that he ran back and the mist cleared to reveal Canri fighting off the creatures.

Sheffield cursed to herself. She had hoped for another Void user, not the two familiars. Did the Vallière girl really not know? Why were they here then? Sheffield gritted her teeth in frustration when she heard her master's voice asking her to return.

Without hesitation Sheffield left the fight to return home. She would need to go back to targeting Louise alone, but how would she get Louise alone in the first place? It was clear now that she needed to give Louise a reason to come with or put her somewhere where no one would hear her, but with that old familiar chasing her at every sign of trouble she would need Louise to cooperate, but how?

"She's gone," Canri said sheathing his sword. He turned around and was about to speak when he noticed Louise getting very angry at Saito and Siesta because Siesta had tackled Saito to the ground and was on him in a fairly seductive manner. More than usual since the creatures had torn off pieces of her clothing.

Not wanting another issue, Canri grabbed Louise's wrist and started dragging her back to the cottage, and he shouted at Siesta and Saito to come too. Saito obeyed right off the bat and pushed Siesta off of him and they all walked back.

"What was that about?" Saito asked as they strolled back to the cottage.

"Sheffield wanted me to reveal 'another' Void user. I don't know who that Void user would be though. Do you happen to know, Saito?" Louise explained then looked at Saito's hand. He wasn't her familiar, yet he had those marks. So he should know.

"Let's talk about that later," he said walking ahead of everyone else. "I think we all need a good night's sleep!"

For once everyone agreed with him and when they got back to Tiffania's home Saito was greeted by a hug from the 'fairy' girl.

"Saito! I'm glad you're safe! We were worried when you ran off like that," she said squeezing him tightly. Then she noticed she might be doing it a little to hard then noticed how she managed to tick Louise off again. "And it's good to see you safe as well, Miss Louise."

"I'm just going to forget this day ever happened..." Louise muttered then walked off to the only bed in the house. This appalled Saito, but what could he expect from Louise being the spoiled noble she is? Therefore, Saito gave Tiffania Louise's sleeping equipment.

Siesta and Agnes decided to stay inside for the night, but Saito, Tiffania, and Canri decided they would sleep outside. Once they were out there, Canri made a fire for warmth and slept right by the house, away from the fire since he had other ways of keeping warm, but the other two would need the fire since they didn't possess any warm fur.

"Hey, Tiffania," Saito said looking at the girl near him. She turned around to listen, curious to what Saito would say. "One reason I brought all these people along is Queen Henrietta of Tristain wants to thank you personally for saving my life, is that alright with you?"

Tiffania didn't expect this. Even though she always wanted to see the outside world, she would be going against her mother's wishes and if she did she put herself in danger. All she knew so far was the forest, but would she be willing to put that life behind her?

Tiffania looked down with worry. Should she deny? If they found out what would they do to her? They wanted to thank her though, would they not care? This was confusing. She had never been asked to go anywhere before. No one came to her out here, yet here she was being asked to come meet royalty so she could be thanked for saving Saito's life.

"Don't worry," Saito said noticing her expression. She looked up, snapping out of her thoughts and looked at Saito curiously. "Henrietta is the nicest person I know. Besides, I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

A warm feeling came over Tiffania and she smiled. Perhaps she would go. If Saito promised nothing bad would happen to her, so nothing would happen, right? She looked at Saito and smiled. He was so kind he wanted to repay her for saving his life, he saved her from the rain that night, and now he was offering to protect her if she left the woods with him.

"Alright, if you'll protect me, I'll go," she agreed kindly. Saito smiled back and they both went to sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day and they would need to wake up early if they were to get to Tristain within a week since Albion was now moving away from Halkeginia.

###############

Tiffania stared at her home for probably the last time. It had been her only home and only world for years, yet here she was leaving it. She had little time to gather her belongings and took what she knew she would need, but it still wasn't enough.

"Let's go!" Louise yelled impatiently, but surprisingly and effectively snapping Tiffania out of whatever world she was in. She walked to the carriage which had the doors open and Saito holding out a hand to help her up. She gladly took it, got in the carriage, and they were off.

They rode for a few minutes and Tiffania was still staring at the forest. Ever since then there had been an awkward silence between the four people in the back, but all Tiffania did was stare, longingly and seemingly worried, out the window toward her home. Not even Saito knew what to say, so he just let her do what she wanted, but the one to break the silence was the one they didn't expect to make conversation with Tiffania.

"Are you alright?" Louise asked slightly concerned. She had been watching Tiffania look out the window and wondered why she was acting like this. Had she never been this far away before? 

"Oh, I'm fine Miss Louise. I've just never been so far away from home before."

"Have you lived out there...all alone?" Louise asked since Tiffania lived a fair bit away from civilization and no one else was with her.

"Yes, I have lived alone since...my mother..." Tiffania said looking down to the ground with sad eyes. Louise felt somewhat bad now.

"I'm sorry! I had no idea," Louise apologized. This poor girl had been living alone ever since her mother passed away. Louise couldn't imagine a life like that, yet Tiffania had experienced it first hand. It was quite sad to think about really. A life without a mother.

"It's fine," Tiffania said putting on a smile, trying to forget what she was thinking about. "I've always wanted to see the outside world actually."

#####################

In a few days the group arrived at the capital. It was bustling today with many people, and that is something everyone in the group had seen except for Tiffania who looked around curiously and nervously. There were so may people! Just looking outside once made her feel small and helpless, but it was also intriguing. How could so many people fit in one place? What were they all doing?

Once they arrived at the palace and stepped out, Tiffania looked at the large structure with awe. She once again felt small and it intimidated her. How many people would be in those walls? It scared her to think about it. What if they found out?

Worried, Tiffania just stood there and stared at the palace. She ignored the others' words to follow and just stood there until Saito grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the palace. This was worrying to Saito. She didn't seem to be doing to well inside or out.

"Tiffania," Saito said trying to snap her out of her trance. She didn't respond so Saito knocked on her forehead like it was a door and said, "Hello, are you in there Tiffania?"

She responded to this and looked at Saito curiously. Why did he do that? However, before she could ask he said, "Tiffania, don't worry. No one here will bother you and Henrietta is the nicest person I know. If she finds out who you are, I don't think she'll care, and remember when I said nothing bad will happen to you?"

This made Tiffania feel better and she nodded with a smile. She knew she could trust Saito, but she still felt uneasy about meeting royalty. What should she do? Was there something she in particular was supposed to do?

These thoughts continued on until they reached Henrietta's office. Agnes opened the door and held it for them to all walk in one by one. Once they were all in, Tiffania noticed how they all got on their knees and bowed. Once she realized why they were doing it she hurriedly bowed as well.

"I'm glad to see everyone back. I presume the trip was safe?" Henrietta asked with her kind smile she always seemed to wear. She walked over to Louise and said, "How was the trip for you Louise?"

"Well, first thing I can tell you is we were successful," Louise stated. Then, Louise held her hand out in Tiffania's direction and said, "This is the Tiffania we were searching for."

Louise noticed how Tiffania wasn't doing anything after that, so presuming she was confused, Louise leaned in a little bit and said, "Go on, introduce yourself."

"R-Right!" Tiffania said very nervously. She put herself right in front of Hnerietta and bowed. She didn't look up and said, "My name is...Tiffania. It is an honor to finally meet you, your majesty."

"The honor is mine, Tiffania. You must be tired from your long journey," Henrietta said kindly with a smile. She looked at Tiffania, but couldn't see her face well because of the hat. "Excuse me, but might I see your face properly?"

Tiffania stiffened a little bit and was bothered about her hat more by Louise who said, "A hat? That's disrespectful!"

"T-There's a reason for this!" Tiffania exclaimed, nervous to remove her hat. This wasn't a very good choice because Louise started to bother her more.

"You know, I have never seen you take that off. What's the deal anyways? Is there something wrong with your head?" Louise asked sounding harsh. Acting this way made Saito a little angry. When did Louise have any consideration at all?

"I don't mind," Henrietta said in an attempt to comfort Tiffania. "Whatever is wrong I won't judge. You're secret is safe with us."

"I don't mean to hide it, but..." she said standing up. Tiffania took a deep breath, placed her hands on her hat and took another deep breath. She was about to reveal her identity in front of royalty. She gulped then removed the hat to reveal her long ears. Everyone in the room except the two familiars gasped. To the residents of the world, this was definitely surprising.

"You're an elf?!"

Tiffania nodded then looked down with her ears drooping slightly. She was grateful they hadn't attacked already, but all the same she looked down sadly and said, "It's frightening isn't it. Repulsive, that I'm an elf?"

Henrietta was the first to replace her shocked face with one of a smile. She walked over to Tiffania and put a hand on her shoulder. When she did Henrietta said, "I said I wouldn't judge, but as we both know, an elf can be quite a surprise here. There also seems to be a story here, we can talk outside."

The group walked outside to the garden. Agnes and Louise eyed Tiffania carefully, as if expecting something to happen. Tiffania walked over to the water and looked in it. She recalled what her mother had told her about her heritage and readied herself to speak.

"I'm actually half elf," Tiffania started. "My mother was an elf and mistress to the Archduke of Albion. I've lived a quiet life in seclusion until now because my mother asked me to."

Henrietta was taken by surprise. The Archduke of Albion. If what she thought was true, that would mean Tiffania was…

"I shall not dislike you just because you're an elf," Henrietta said smiling kindly. "I am very thankful, as well as many other people, that you saved Saito's life. If anything, we are indebted to you for such a feat. Here in Tristain, you are under my protection."

Tiffania looked up with surprise. This person she never knew before was offering her protection that would ensure her safety. She didn't know what to say to such a kind offer. She felt so happy that people would offer to protect her, a complete stranger who was also an elf. They were so kind.

"Your majesty, I don't know what to say. I'm very grateful for your kindness," Tiffania said with a large smile as she stood up to eye level with Henrietta.

"No need to be so formal, Tiffania. Come let us have tea over there," Henrietta said walking over to the gazebo. Once they were all seated and a servant had brought them tea, Henrietta asked Agnes how the trip went, but this was met with a conversation on Sheffield and other sorts of politics, but it did raise suspicion of another Void Mage.

Once they were done Henrietta turned her head to Saito and asked, "Saito, before you left you said you would think about becoming a Chevalier. Will you accept the title?"

Nearly all heads turned to Saito as he made his final decision. He had thought about it. Him, a noble. Maybe it would be a good thing, but he didn't know. Saito thought about it for a while. He would be taking on responsibility, he would be taking on a life of power, and it was only right to accept generosity, so after he had thought over it he nodded.

"Your majesty, isn't there a more dire matter at hand?" Louise asked since she had explained not long ago that Sheffield was after another Void user. "If there's another Void user, shouldn't we talk about who it is?"

"Oh, that's right," Henrietta said standing up. They discussed the attack for a little bit after leaving the gazebo. They talked for a while, but soon they noticed Tiffania staring a something in her hand. They tried getting her attention once but she kept staring at whatever she had.

"Tiffania," Henrietta said in a louder voice than last. This got the elf's attention. "What were you looking at just now?"

"Oh, just this..." she said holding out a ring. It looked as if it were made to hold a stone, yet no stone rested on it. It was just a silver ring holding nothing.

"A ring?" Henrietta asked looking at it curiously. "The stone is missing."

"The stone dissolved and disappeared when I saved Mr. Saito," Tiffania said recalling the moment she decided to save his life.

"Tiffania, I remember being surrounded by the enemy, but I don't remember any after that," Saito said, curious to know what happened to him. He only remembered being ready to die, after that and before was still something that he just couldn't remember.

"I'll take over from here!" Derflinger yelled enthusiastically as he popped out of his sheathe. "Saito, your heart had already stopped beating. It isn't much of a story really. They planned to surround you and they did. Once you were collapsed, too exhausted to lift a finger, they aimed every weapon at you. Mages fires magic, canons boomed, and arrows slung all for you. You gave one final cry before your heart stopped, so what I'm saying is that I transported you, my lifeless partner, to the forests of Westwood. However, you should thank little miss half elf here! This girl is the one who used her magic ring without a second thought!"

"Is that so. I knew you weren't some ordinary girl," Louise said plainly, even though her words betrayed the way she said them. That mood changed however when she looked at the ring that supposedly brought Saito back to life. "It's definitely some ring."

"No, I just did what I thought anyone would do," Tiffania said with slight embarrassment. "My late mother always told me to help those in need, no matter who they were."

"Only something such as ancient magic could be capable of reviving the dead," Henrietta explained as she stared at the ring. For a moment she thought then looked directly at Tiffania and asked, "That power is elven magic, is it not?"

Tiffania nodded and Louise turned to her familiar when he gave a 'hmph' for some reason. For this Canri earned a quick whack on the head. He didn't growl and just took it though. He only gave out a small whine before Henrietta spoke once more.

"Perhaps...if you are of elven blood, perhaps you can use magic too? Maybe something akin to that of Void magic?"

 **Author's note PLEASE READ: Done! Sorry this was delayed. I will give a quick explanation in a nutshell of why this is late. For starters it has been a busy week and I started to drift away from this project. When I came down to it I found myself with writer's block on my head. Today I found the time in my groggy state when I didn't want to leave bed and this laptop was sitting right next to the bed. I don't think the next chapter will be out next week and I'm taking a little break from this. I promise to come back before the month is over. If you want to review PLEASE do not say merely 'more lease' or 'good chapter' I want to know something specifically good about the chapter. Now good bye and don't play games until 2 AM.**


	6. Chapter 6

Saito couldn't sleep that night. All he could do was worry. During their discussion about Tiffania's magic, she just ran off without warning. Everyone seemed to be worried, but not Louise because Louise was just being, well, Louise. No one tried to look for her so far, all that was recommended was to leave her alone, but it never sated the curiosity of the boy who rolled in bed trying to get his restless body comfortable.

Eventually, Saito decided to take a walk. He couldn't sleep, nor could he shut his eyes for a minute. It felt as if he needed to be around Tiffania, but why? It was always this feeling nagging him from the back of his head. He looked at the mark on his hand, but he pushed it out of his mind until now because he hadn't used it much. He never got to see what kind of mark Canri had, but he always wondered what power was given to him by the void mage.

Saito was walking randomly through the corridors until he saw Canri doing something outside of Louise's room. It was very curious too. He was looking at a stone in one hand and his other was positioned over it in an odd fashion. He seemed very focused on it too. The shape-shifter didn't look up as Saito walked by. What was he doing anyways?

"What are you doing?" Saito asked in a low tone, trying not to startle the person he was addressing. This failed however. Canri looked up immediately with his hand going to a knife, but when he realized who it was, he stopped.

"Practicing," he said as neutrally as he could. Saito looked at the stone and noticed how it seemed to be waving as if there were great amounts of heat in front of it. It continued to do so, yet Saito couldn't feel any heat in the air near it. It shimmered, bent, and did some odd stuff for a bit and with every little thing it did Canri bared his teeth more. Eventually the stone started to seem to fade, but that's when it suddenly stopped whatever it was doing.

Canri, in one swift motion, stood up and threw the stone against the wall causing it to shatter into many pieces. This took Saito by surprise as he jumped back a few feet. But what was that? The only kind of magic Saito had seen so far required wands of staffs.

"Was that magic just now?" Saito asked, curious as to what was going on.

"Yes."

"Without a wand?" Saito asked wondering how it was possible.

"In my world, magic exists without the need of channeling items. Wands are such things here, an item to channel, control, and command magic easier. In my world, the most common ones are staffs. However, staffs are a tool to control a certain type of magic usually."

"I haven't really seen many people control a magic without this...channeling item," Saito said half to himself as he thought about who he had seen not use a wand or staff to control magic.

Though Saito had asked him a direct question, the man was occupied by something else towards a nearby balcony. He just sat there and looked towards it as if enchanted. Saito knew better than to try and listen from here with Canri having very heightened senses, so he walked towards the balcony and eventually heard soft singing as well as the strumming of a harp.

Saito kept wondering what it was as he got closer, then when he got there, he saw Tiffania sitting on a bench outside playing a harp and singing. He decided to tune into the song as she sang,

"Gundolf, Left Hand of God

You courageous shield of God

The Right Hand of God is Windalfr

You compassionate flute of God..."

Before Tiffania could move on, Saito decided to talk and said, "That's a nice song."

"Saito? Did I wake you?" she asked when she noticed who it was. The by shook his head and took a few steps closer.

"No, I had was having issues sleeping anyway. May I sit next to you?" Saito asked and explained. Tiffania smiled and nodded yes to this and Saito took a seat next to her. "Hey, Tiffania," he began. He wanted to know how Tiffania was doing.

"Isn't that a little long? You can just call me Tiffa," she said with a smile. Saito nodded yes and she started talking again. She straitened her somewhat tilted head a little, looked up, and said, "It's quite odd. The moons I saw from the forest and the ones I can see from the balcony are exactly the same..."

"Tiffa, um..." Saito said, trying to put his words together. "Have I dragged you into an overwhelming situation?"

It didn't take long before Tiffania said, "Ever since I moved into that little house in the forest four years ago, I've been all alone. I thought then I would live away from the world like that forever. Now I am out of the forest and seeing new places I never saw before."

"Do you regret it?" Saito asked out of the blue. "I mean, I feel bad that we kind of forced you to come with us. I'm sorry Tiffa."

"No, it's not your fault at all. Besides, I always wanted to see what was outside the forest. I've always wanted to roam the world and meet many kinds of people," she said then looked off the balcony. "But I'm scared because I know little about anything..."

She waited a while, wondering if she should tell Saito that she could use magic. He would take it well, but could he keep it a secret? When she looked at him, she saw the face of the only person she could trust and the only shoulder she could lean on. She made her decision and said, "To tell you the truth, I can use magic. I was gifted with magic abilities from my mother. I only found out when the soldiers tried to take me away afterwords. It's something I just want to forget entirely. I don't know if these powers are good or bad."

"I don't know either, but how can it be a bad thing? You being born half elf and having magical powers, there must be a reason, right? It's just like how I came from another world entirely, Canri too. We're all here for a reason."

"Another world?" Tiffania asked in surprise. She had no idea Saito came from another world entirely.

"Yup, so we understand how you feel. If anything is troubling you, just let me know. I owe you my life after all."

Tiffania stood there for a second when she suddenly smiled, grabbed Saito's hands, and happily said, "Thank you so much, Saito. I'm so glad you're my friend now!"

"Same here, and if anything happens, I'll protect you," Saito said then hugged her. This action surprised Tiffania, but eventually hugged back. They stood there for a moment and lightly embraced each other. However, a thought of Louise ran through Saito's head and he broke the hug.

"Well, let's get some sleep. After all, the official ceremony for me becoming a knight is tomorrow. Tiffania nodded and they both walked back to their respective rooms.

##################

Henrietta lowered the scepter onto his shoulders and announced, "Saito, for your deeds to the Kingdom of Tristain and in the name of the founder, Bremier, I hereby name you Saito Chevalier de Hiraga. Rise now as my knight."

Saito rose and at that moment a robe that signified nobility was wrapped around his shoulders by Siesta who said, "Here you are master."

"Thanks Siesta..." Saito said with a smile before he realized what she called him. "Wait a second! Master?!"

Louise really didn't like the sound of it as she stomped over and yelled, "Master?! Since when is Saito YOUR master?!"

Siesta held up a document and said, "It's by decree of her majesty!"

Louise ready the paper through and through as if she couldn't accept it. Once she finally checked everything for the hundredth time she could definitely see that it was indeed handing Siesta over to Saito and with Henrietta's signature.

"Your majesty! What's the meaning of this!" Louise shouted as she thought about Saito and Siesta together.

"Since you all get along so well, I thought it would be best," Henrietta said with her usual smile.

"T-t-that's very...kind of you, your majesty. I'm very grateful for your thoughtfulness..." Louise said as she strained and sweated to get the words out of her mouth and hold back her anger.

"I too thank you from the bottom of my heart!" Siesta stated with large amounts of joy. This drove Louise over the edge as she began insulting the maid right then and there out of her anger.

"Louise, I don't think this is the time or the place," Henrietta said with her unchanging smile. Louise snapped out of it, coughed, and tried to hard to look formal. "I will have some winged dragons take you back to the academy. I must prepare for the council of nations now."

As Henrietta was just about to walk away, she turned around and said, "I will also have Tiffania stay here for a little while, she is my cousin after all."

This turned all the heads in the room to Tiffania who's ears immediately dropped in embarrassment from all the attention.

"Cousin?!" almost everyone said in unison.

"Yes," Henrietta said as she gained everyone's attention so she could explain. "Tiffania's father is my uncle who ruled over the region of South Gotha as the Archduke of Albion. It must be the Founder Bremir's will that brought us together like this."

After it all soaked in, Saito made a quick decision, walked over to Tiffania and said, "Tiffa, won't you be lonely in such a big place? You could come to the academy with us."

"No, her majesty suggested the same thing, but it was me who refused. You see, I still haven't made up my mind, as a half elf, to mingle with people I don't know. I would rather be with you, Mr. Saito, but I'm afraid I'll just cause you more trouble."

"Don't worry about that, I can protect you," Saito said, but this earned him pain to his toes from Louise's foot who was fed up with Saito being with Tiffania all the time.

"You're awfully fed up with her Saito. Why would that be?"

"But it's a knight's duty to protect ladies in need of it, right?" Saito said as a dumb argument. This didn't help and they started fighting verbally.

Tiffania was about to say something to stop them when Canri walked up and said, "Mingling with people is something you'll have to do to see the world and meet new people. It's not comfortable, but I'm sure you can do it."

##################

"Hey I see the academy!" Saito exclaimed as he pointed to the Tristain Magic Academy. As he did something rose up in the air. When it stopped a very colorful explosion of small little flares of varying colors boomed.

Once they were landing, all of them could hear everyone shouting, "Saito Chevalier de Hiraga, hurrah! Hurrah!" This repeated until they landed and a swarm of nobles came to the balloon.

"What in the world is all this?" Saito asked as he looked in awe at all the people in the academy congratulating him.

"It's a celebration for your becoming a Chevalier," Guiche said with his usual stance and hir rose. "We received word from the princess just this morning."

"Well, thanks," Saito said as he rubbed the back of his head embarrassed.

"Do you know about the Ondine Knight Corps?" Guiche asked as he turned his full attention to Saito.

"Congratulations Saito! You're better than I thought," one of the members said as the entire Ondine Knight Corps seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"I'm Reynald! I I'm taking care of the business side of the corps," a light blond/brown kid with glasses and a piece of hair sticking out at a weird angle said.

"And I'm to be captain!" Guiche exclaimed in his dramatic pose as always. "Practically speaking, having you as captain will be more trouble than it's worth, you know?"

"W-Wait a minute!" Saito exclaimed as he covered his head, trying process everything. "I'm not taking all of this in right. I have know clue what you're talking about!"

"Oh, just forget about the details for now, Saito. I'm so impressed that you're a chevalier now!" Kirche said as she tried to flirt with Saito, angering the tsundere that was being left out of the entire conversation.

Louise's rage dissipated rather quickly. She sighed and said, "Sometimes I just don't know what to do with the Princess."

"I know, right?" Siesta happily agreed.

"Come Ondine Knight Corps! Let's celebrate, our lieutenant, Saito, has just been appointed chevalier, so we shall toss him into the air to praise and celebrate!" Guiche dramatically stated as always.

Everyone agreed and lifted the otherworldly swordsman up and began running around with him while lightly tossing him and chanting his name. They were so excited and in such a hurry, that they knocked a few people out of their way as they ran around the academy.

"Hooray for Her Majesty! Hooray for Ondine! And hooray for Saito too, I guess!" everyone shouted as they continued to parade him around.

"You guess?!" Saito asked in shock. Wasn't this supposed to celebrate him in the first place. "And wait...I'm a lieutenant?!"

 **I'm sorry for not posting a chapter in ages. I've just honestly lost a lot of fire for this one...so the best I can do is give you this short chapter to chew on while I make the next, hopefully before February. Have fun, and happy holidays!**


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